


A Crown of Blue Roses

by TinyFrost



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Anxious Katsuki Yuuri, Arranged Marriage, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Married Life, Married Sex, Omega Verse, Political Alliances, Rape Recovery, Rape/Non-con Elements, a/b/o dynamics, and also did somethings he shouldn't, basically Victor said things he shouldn't, i really want this to have a happy ending, like theoretical rape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-01-31 10:07:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 36,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21444475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinyFrost/pseuds/TinyFrost
Summary: Rodinia and Yamato had been at war for over ten years.After working towards a much desired peace, the Czar and the Empress sign an agreement which includes the arranged marriage between Crown Prince Viktor of Rodinia and Second Prince Yuuri of Yamato. Yet, Viktor's heart is broken by loss and grief, things he shouldn't have said means he has broken his first love's heart long before they have a chance to meet each other...(This is basically a very masochist story I got the idea of and needed to write but don't fear since I really want it to have a happy ending :)
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Mila Babicheva/Sara Crispino, Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky, Phichit Chulanont/Lee Seung Gil
Comments: 59
Kudos: 295





	1. Chapter 1

Rodinia and Yamato had been at war for over ten years.

Many of their respective inhabitants had lost a family member in the ablaze of the guns, had feared for their lives while completing their daily tasks, had spent their childhoods hiding in the countryside or had even been born while a battle was taking place right outside their homes. Everyone, from the poorest subject to the members of the royal families, suffered greatly.

They were at such a high point of desperation that when both kingdoms agreed to quit to the nonsense conflict, their peoples celebrated it even without the say of who had been the winner or the loser.

The airs of hope could be breathed all through both kingdoms, even more in the room at a specific room in the Summer Palace of the Siamese royal family where the last formalities between the two monarchs were taking place. A few signatures here and there and the day would go through History as one of a successfully achieved peace.

“Your Highness,” Czar Nikolas addressed his Yamato counterpart sitting next to him “I know these sessions have almost concluded, yet, I was curious if we could manage to agree on something more which I believe can strengthen the bonds between our countries even more”

Empress Suiko, whose elegance and gentle expression remained through her advancing age, placed her teacup down and fixed her inquiring gaze on the other monarch.

“You have made me curious, Your Highness” she conceded “If you think this is something which may prevent another rupture between our kingdoms, then by all means, do say.”

The Czar relaxed his posture a bit as well as the breath he had being containing before sliding a soft grin on his lips. It was known far and wide about the fact the Yamato Crown Princess blessed the Empress with a pair of children, the youngest of whom would barely be celebrating his first two months of life in a few days’ time. And he himself had a little grandson who had recently had a small family gathering for his fourth birthday.

“Your Highness,” he began, trying his best to contain his excitement and apply what he had learned on public speaking “I believe it is widely known how family disputes can be easily turned down or even solved once the implicates remember they are bonded by something thicker and long-lasting than some disagreements on finances or domains. And how this has also been successfully applied amongst many royal families within this graciously hosting continent is also of popular knowledge.”

The Empress’ serene expression allowed her left brow to be lifted ever so lightly, demonstrating both her interest and understanding. A good signal for the Czar, who eagerly continued.

“Had our peace efforts began in earlier times, I would have suggested my very own son for this task along with her Highness, Crown Princess Hiroko. But both were married off early and, in my son’s case, sickness took him away far too early as well” the Czar felt a tight knot form on his throat as every time he spoke of his beloved Sasha, yet he obliged himself to continue “However, like any good governors, I believe the best we can do is to look forward to the future.”  
  


He patiently waited for Empress Suiko to finish her sip of tea.

“Our grandchildren you mean” she fixed her eyes on him again. As comfortable as the Siam palace was, the warm weather was taking a toll on her, so she elegantly reached for the fan in her obi “How old is your little prince?”

Ah, if there was a role the Czar really enjoyed putting himself in, was his grandfather self. His grin widened and he even felt his eyes go soft in tenderness for his beloved grandson.

“My Vitka has just turned four years old. We had a small family gathering in the _dacha_ his mother is being treated at” the ever-fragile Alena had seen her health worsened with the death of her husband. The light of her eyes only seemed to return when her son was near “I do believe he really enjoyed his little party.”

The Empress nodded in understanding, finally conceding a genuine smile which didn’t seem like a Koh mask.

“Has he been presented already or is it too early?” she wondered, promptly justifying her question when she saw the Czar’s confused expression “Pardon me, but the only experiences I have are from my daughter and granddaughter. I don’t know if boys present around the same age”

“Oh, please don’t mind it” the Czar lessened importance to it with a gesture of his hand “Both my son and Vitka presented when they were three years old. Both of them Alphas”

“Then it is the same as it was for my girls” the Empress regarded with a smile but also with concern starting to grow on her face “Yet, you see, Mari presented herself three years ago and turned out to be an alpha like her Father”

All of a sudden, the cheerful atmosphere which had been reigning in the discussion room started to mingle.

“However,” the Empress’ voice brought some life back to the room “we might have a chance on this if my daughter’s and physician’s theories are right”

Now it was the Czar’s turn to be confused.

“_Theories_, your Highness?”

As any form of response, the Empress simply smiled from behind her ornamented fan.

“Our little Yuuri may be an Omega”

That day, the ambassadors who had accompanied the monarchs had a very rough time and very little sleep at night while finishing the peace treaty between the kingdoms as well as adding an extra paragraph in which the future marriage of Crown Prince Viktor of Rodinia from House Nikiforov and Second Prince Yuuri of Yamato from House Katsuki was pompously stated.

* * *

_Tchac_

_Tchac_

_Tchac_

Young prince Yuuri was quite entertained in sticking his head out of the carriage window, paying especial attention to the horse figures at the very front and the funny sounds they made whenever their hoofs touched the ground.

_Tchac_

_Tchac_

_Tchac_

Back at home in Yamato, horses weren’t that widely used as Minako-sensei, his and his sister’s tutor, had taught them to be in continental Laurasia, Rodinia and the rest of Europa. He had only seen them a few times when accompanying his parents to some military exhibitions or parades.

“_Tchac, tchac, tchac_” he giggled lightly to his own copy of the hoof sound

“Yuuri, get your head back in here!” Minako-sensei’s voice came from the insides of the carriage “We will arrive soon and I’m sure the Rodinians won’t like to see you sick”

Truth be told, it was freezing outside. Even with their thickest embroidered woolen kimonos, the Yamato royal family and their entourage were shaking their teeth inside the carriages the Rodinian royal family had put to their service upon their arrival after a tiring month aboard the train which would take them from the port of Vladivostok to one of the royal family’s resting palaces, a much closer place than the Capitol.

“Oh, leave him be” now it was his sister Mari’s voice “Maybe he wants his future prince to pamper him”

That teasing was more than enough to make a flustered Yuuri to get back to the warmth of the carriage, his face and ears beetroot red for a very different reason than the blizzard outside.

“Mari nee-san!” he complained to his mockingly smiling sister.

The Crown Princess had turned into a beautiful young woman with deep unbothered eyes and harmonious features, always looking regal in her high up-do decorated with red and gold tingling ornaments and beautiful warm-toned kimonos, both decorated with the Tsubaki flower which represented the royal family’s coat of arms. Yet, her hair would often also be decorated with bright Higanbana flowers which shown her powerful Alpha status.

Her twelve-year old brother on the other hand was still a child. His features were still soft and gentle, with chocolate-eyes surrounded by thick eyelashes which made them look larger along his glasses; his hair was often held together by small ornamented brooches while the patterns of his kimonos were still a little childish despite the regal coats of arms. Unlike his sister, his brooches often depicted Kiku flowers in full bloom which represented his noble family but also his Omega status.

“Both of you, stay quiet!” Minako called the siblings off “I can’t believe I have to babysit an eighteen-year old woman and a boy who is on his way to meet his fiancé!”

“Minako-sensei!” Yuuri responded with the same indignation he had used with his sister, trying to hide his reddened face behind his scarf.

“Oh, for god’s sake Yuuri. Everyone in Rodinia knows we are here so you and your fiancé meet” the older Lady mumbled with a tired demeanor which showed off her lack of sleep.

Empress Suiko, who was traveling in the main carriage, had publicly communicated her intentions on marrying her youngest grandchild to the crown prince of Rodinia. The decision was widely celebrated by her subjects and greatly questioned by her own daughter. Yet, a few meetings with Czar Nikolas left Crown Princess Hiroko more at ease on the subject and she herself was the one who would slowly instruct her own child on his future marriage.

“Do you think I can pet a horse in the palace?” Yuuri wondered with his eyes still lingering on the window

“Hmm, who knows. We can ask prince Viktor” Mari feigned indifference in her voice, but she was clearly teasing her baby brother once again

“Mari” Lady Minako scolded “I believe your brother is nervous enough. Stop right away or I’ll tell Czar Nikolas you will present him a dance”

That threat was more than enough to shut Mari’s words. She was an Alpha woman, capable of doing almost anything she set her mind on but he one and only thing she didn’t seem to have any talent for was dance. She just couldn’t help to get her feet tangled, trip over her own kimono, drop her dancing fans or even break them mid-dance.

“I’m not that nervous” Yuuri mumbled “Mom says he is nice and talented. I wonder what kind of books he likes. I even brought some of my own… Ah!”

The carriage had suddenly stopped in its tracks, making the eager prince almost trip inside the vehicle.

“I believe we have arrived” Lady Minako fixed her haori and straightened her kimono before making sure Princess Mari had the fan which properly matched her kimono as well as giving a last look to Yuuri’s mother of pearl brooch depicting a Kiku bouquet, but paid special attention to take his thick scarf off. The first impressions had to be perfect, even more when speaking about royals but that was first and foremost an engagement visit.

A page opened up the vehicle’s door and extended the small wooden staircase he had brought along to help the Yamato royals to descend comfortably. By tradition, the governess was the first one to come down, followed by the second Prince and the Princess was the last one by hierarchy. Yet, and only for this specific Estate visit, Yuuri would be the last one to come down.

“… -and Crown Prince Consort Toshiya!” the page attending the carriage before them ended the presentation of the sibling’s parents. Now it was their turn.

“Presenting Lady Minako of House Okugawa!” the governess came down and made a deep bow first to her general public and then to Czar Nikolas.

“Presenting Princess Mari of House Katsuki, Second Heiress to the throne of Yamato!” Mari gracefully descended, holding her head high before bowing down in respect to the Czar and his entourage.

“Presenting Prince Yuuri of House Katsuki, Great Duke of Hasetsu and Second Prince of Yamato!”

The air at Novosibirsk was thin and cold as Yuuri could feel on his neck, the only uncovered place by his woolen kimono with the only objective of showing off the light bulge on the base of his neck. Before him, there was a large set of staircases and columns holding the main entrance; there was a welcoming committee of about thirty people but despite it, the Czar was easily recognizable.

Yuuri hadn’t got to meet his grandfather, Consort Emperor Nakano, but the man standing in the middle seemed to be the standard trope of a beardy grandfather loaded with heavy cloak to protect him from the cold. Czar Nikolas didn’t look as frail as his age would suggest, his deep moss-like eyes were bright and quite cheerful from below the thick hat covering his head.

“Ah, please be welcome to our home!” the Czar approached the Empress with evident glee “It has been so long since we have seen each other, your Highness!”

“It has indeed” Empress Suiko conceded with a smile and offering her hand for a courtesy kiss “Yet, I believe you hadn’t meet my little Yuuri”

Oh, that was a sign for him to go and stand next to his grandmother. He made sure to bow to both monarchs and tried not to shiver from the lack of his scarf.

“Ah, how fast time flies by!” the Rodinian said in surprise “The single time we met, your mother was still holding you in her arms!”

Yuuri felt the flush bloom all over his cheeks and extend to his ears.

“Then, it is a pleasure for us to meet again and even more wonderful for me to remember this encounter” he had had to make some last-minute adjustments to the greeting he had been preparing for over a month but it seemed to have turned out quite natural.

The Czar laughed lightly and, breaking out any kind of formality established, placed a gentle pat on Yuuri’s hair. Minako’s spine tingled when she realized the Czar had undone all the work she had done with the prince’s hairdo.

“A wonderful kid, your Highness!” Czar Nikolas cheered “I wouldn’t have expected anything less from the House of Katsuki. But, please! Do come inside and make yourselves at home”

The Yamato entourage came into the palace amongst sloppy bows from the Rodinians who had evidently been trying to learn the basics of their counterparts’ etiquette, without the same grace evidently.

_Whoa, so full. _Yuuri thought to himself.

Back home, most of the Hasetsu Palace’s rooms were empty save for sitting cushions and some decorative items such as paintings, ancient armors, vases and obviously lamps; the only fuller-filled rooms he recalled were the Throne Room and the library for obvious reasons. Yet, if anyone had asked him to tell which was the Throne Room in the Rodinian palace, he would surely been wrong as he was very willing to appoint either the entrance room as well as a toilet.

There were paintings, mosaics, vases, ornamented furniture, sculptures, chandeliers and brocade curtains where there were no windows. And that wasn’t even the main palace in Petrograd.

They all sat in a heavily decorated living room with a very fortunate fireplace while the pages took their luggage to their respective room. The cold of the outside instantly disappeared when several maids handed everyone porcelain cups filled with a spicy tea and placed a plate full of _blini_ with marmalade.

“Your Highness, dear Yuuri,” the Czar mumbled after a sip of his cup “please pardon my grandson’s absence but he has been feeling unwell lately. But, do not worry, I have already asked for him to join us for dinner tonight”

_Ah right. Viktor isn’t here_. Yuuri realized.

That worried him a little. While he didn’t have any knowledge if Viktor had a weak constitution, it was widely known the fact his father died from a severe fever and his wife and bonded Omega was left weak and sickly after his passing, to the point she had passed away only six months before the Yamato visit.

Princess Alena’s passing had been the Czar’s main incentive to organize a meeting with his fiancé in such short notice and such a far date from their wedding at the same time.

After the small snack, it was Czar Nikolas himself the one to guide them through a long hall towards the large and luxuriously decorated room section where they would be staying, all while animatedly talking with the Yamato empress of matters Yuuri honestly considered quite boring and would better spend the tour looking through the window. That’s when he jumped in excitement.

“_Uma ga!_” he squealed without even thinking the exact second he saw the horses

A discreet but blunt elbow hit from Mari made him go back to the reality where everyone had their eyes fixed on his flushed self.

“I…I’m sorry” he bowed down with all of his face warm in embarrassment.

He was already expecting a reprimand from his governess when he saw the Czar’s boots approach his low range of vision. He raised his eyes a little bit and saw the Rodinian monarch looking through the window and then at him with a fatherly smile.

“Oh, the horses… I see” he placed a gentle pat on his hair “Do you like them, Yuuri?”

Yuuri nodded slightly.

“Your room is the closest one, over there” he pointed to a nearby door with decorated engraving before making a small sign to one of the maids next to him “Our horses are very gentle and love riding, why don’t you go see them? Masha, won’t you take him to the stables? Ah… but first!”

He felt a sudden sensation of heaviness and warmth over his shoulders and back when the Czar placed his very own cloak over him. The fur tickled his ears and a strong peppermint scent tingled his nose in a pleasant, soothing way.

“We don’t want you to get cold, do we?” the Czar flashed a wide smile at him.

For a moment, he raised a questioning look at his governess and at his mother. Both of them nodded gently. He smiled and made a deep bow at the monarch before him

“Thank you very much, your Highness!” he blurted before hopping happily behind the maid.

No one saw when another maid approached the Rodinian monarch with a concerned expression nor when the Czar’s smile faded into what could easily be anger on his ever-gentle face.

* * *

Prince Viktor did feel unwell, but not in a physical way. Although he truly wished he did rather than the pain he had been dealing with for six months in a row.

He had never been too attached to his father; the few things his memory had retained were only about his father constantly being either in a room with generals or nurses and doctors. He was gone before his fourth birthday, only leaving photos, paintings and his own silver hair as any trace of a legacy to his son.

Unlike his mother, who had always been there for him with a smile, a fairytale to tell in the night, with gentle caresses and words whenever he fell down while playing. She had always been prone to illnesses but after his father’s passing, she would spend most of her time laying in bed and often in faraway places to ease her sicknesses. Vitktor still couldn’t believe she had left.

Grand Duchess Alena’s last days were insufferable for her physicians who were doing the impossible just to have her breathing with the least amount of pain and for prince Viktor who had spent months kneeling by his mother’s side just to catch another glimpse of her deep blue eyes or the sparse gentle words she would say in the midst of her hallucinating mind. Despite all of it, she had the calmest expression when life left her body.

Ever since that day, Viktor felt himself to be broken.

The most direct servants at Petrograd had started to call him the Ice Prince: a beautiful and ethereal being with the elegance any lady wished to have and the looks of a fairy from the ancient tales but with a terrible sadness flooding his crystal blue eyes. He wasn’t alive, he merely hadn’t died.; and Viktor knew they were right.

So what if he was to become the Czar of a massive empire? So what if he could travel the world? So what if he could learn anything he wanted? So what if he was to be married to a beautiful Omega? So what if he could have anything his heart desired on the palm of his hand by merely asking if what he wanted was impossible for science and for faith?

“Come, Makkachin” he mumbled when he saw the group of carriages approaching the palace’s gates from his bedroom “Let’s see how Zvezda is doing”

Quietly and quickly he sneaked through the palace’s service halls towards the back where the stables were. His mother’s platinum white horse was well fed and cared for, there was no need for the Prince to tend him, but he felt the irascible need to avoid his fiancé as much as possible.

How unfair was it? He was nothing but a pretty kid who had been lucky enough to have been born at the end of the War, whose parents were alive and well and had a sister for him. There was no way he could feel anything but absolute despise for that child.

“Honestly, Makkachin, what was grandfather thinking?” Viktor wondered out loud for his loyal poodle, one of the last presents his mother gave to him, while feeding Zvezda some oats on the palm of his hand “That brat won’t last a year in court before whining me to let him go back to his mother. He’s just another Omega looking for an Alpha to do as he says just because he smells fancy and can bear children. I assure you, if they force me to marry him, he will be no more than any other painted vase sitting in the palace!”

“Now that is no way to be talking about your future husband, young man”

The oats still sitting on Viktor’s hand fell to the ground, much to Zvezda’s dislike, when his grandfather flooded the stables with his deep voice. Viktor froze in his place but that didn’t stop him from holding his gaze to the Czar’s.

“You might have escaped from the welcoming, but I want you with the best of dispositions for dinner with our guests” the monarch said with a severe expression before turning around towards the exit.

“I’m not going” Viktor’s words stopped the Czar on his tracks. The young prince felt intimidated, but he forced himself to keep up his stand “I don’t want to marry some brainless Omega!”

Czar Nikolas was known all through his kingdom as a gentle and noble man, a kind monarch who valued peace and whose political circumstances and ministers had pulled into a nonsense war with a kingdom Rodinia had always had good relationships with, a man who was working his hardest and even putting up his family to restore the broken bonds between the two nations.

Yet, the glare on his eyes in that moment reflected none of that.

“Prince Yuuri is a bright young man!” the Czar declared with loud voice “He has been rigorously formed into writing, arts, riding, politics and economics. He knows more than five languages and has a flawless etiquette. Unlike some spoiled prince I know who won’t peek his nose out of his room to attend his lessons!”

“Who cares!” Viktor was making an inhuman effort to stand his ground while in the presence of an older and more dominant Alpha “I don’t want to marry and I won’t marry!”

The Czar had started to approach his grandson, lessening the distance between them and making his presence even more imponent. Viktor was already able to see his green irises flashing with disappointment but also something else… pity? Sadness?

“How can you want me to marry someone whose nation killed my parents?! You say it’s for the wellbeing of Rodinia, but have you ever thought it’s not good for me?” Viktor could feel his fists trembling with rage and something warm descending his cheeks “When I become Czar, I will have it all annulled and put him on a boat back to Yamato…!”

_Smack!_

Viktor’s left cheek stung in pain, warmer than it had been with his tears falling down. He didn’t have much time to process his grandfather’s action when he found himself buried in the Czar’s wool dressed chest, just like when he was a child and would run and cling towards his grandfather when he was afraid of the war sounds around him and his mother wasn’t there to ease his fear.

“Vitenka, Sasha and Alyona loved you more than anything and the way they left is something I mourn to this day” the young prince could feel his grandfather’s deep voice resonating from his chest “But you have to understand that their deaths weren’t something the Yamato brought on them, it was our severed bonds that did. And right now, what I’m trying to do, is to avoid it from happening again”

His grandfather’s beard tickled his damp cheeks when he placed gentle kisses on his temple and head, just like when he was a toddler.

“This marriage is a safe bet, for our family and for all of the families under our care. I hate to phrase it this way, but what you lived, every Rodinian and Yamato lived it and probably in a worse way” green eyes met Viktor’s own icy blue “You will be Czar one day, and it will be your life goal to always ensure the safety of our subjects, however you must understand that we aren’t almighty”

Viktor’s vision was distorted with the heavy tears flooding his eyes. He didn’t feel like the spoiled teenager he had been behaving like ever since his mother’s passing; instead, he was the small, frightened kid who was too overwhelmed with everything happening around him when he hadn’t had enough time to process it.

“Vitenka, this may not be what you need right now” the Czar wiped his tears away with the embroidered handkerchief he always carried with him “ but believe me when I say you will need someone to rely on once you take my crown. Perhaps not a lover, but a friend is always good company.”

The prince nodded amongst soft sobs, still rubbing his eyes. His now dried tears were getting a light frost on his skin which his grandfather promptly warmed.

“If you wish to talk this further, believe I will be here for you. But right now, go give this kid a chance, will you?”

“Alright” Viktor got closer to his grandfather again, receiving another tight hug “Can Makka come to the dinner?”

He felt his grandpa’s chest shake in laughter, contagiously sharing his smile with him.

“Why not? Our guest seems to like animals after all!”

For the first time in six months, prince Viktor finally flashed a full smile.

* * *

He was going to be sent back home as soon as he became Czar.

If the marriage happened, his only job would be to become a brainless Omega for his husband.

Who would want to marry an enemy?

His only job was to be pretty and useful.

His only job would be to bear children.

_Just like any other painted vase in the palace._

Yuuri’s feet felt stiff from the shock rather than from the freeze, still he tried to move them. He had to find the maid who had led him to the door of the large stables. Maybe he should have stayed with her and limit himself to pat the first horse he saw rather than go around watching every horse in the building.

_Just like any other painted vase in the palace._

A loud clap noise made him snap, automatically running down the nearest hall on his sight. The cloak was heavy and made his movements slower but the brooch on its center prevented it from sliding off Yuuri’s back. Yet, he didn’t know if the thing knotting on his throat and sharply cutting his breath was the brooch or his impotence before the words of the Rodinian prince.

_Just like any other painted vase in the palace._

He found the door he had exited through to the garden, the maid was standing at the doorframe, trembling with cold and was about to welcome him again when the little prince ran directly inside, his manners be damned.

_Just like any other painted vase in the palace._

He only had a very vague idea of where his parents were supposed to be but all of the doors in the hall looked exactly the same for him. He was desperate for his parents until he couldn’t handle it anymore and cried out loud, his aroma doing the same. Alerted by it, Crown Princess Hiroko came out of her room just to find her ever quiet baby boy wailing in pure fright.

She couldn’t get a single coherent word out of him. But inside Yuuri’s head, a phrase reverberated on and on.

_Just like any other painted vase in the palace._

* * *

The dining room inside the Novosibirsk Palace hadn’t been so pompously ornamented nor prepared ever since its glory days back when they were still a mere principality which would be eventually absorbed by the Rodinian Empire, when banquets and great dances amongst their nobility were as common as dandelions blooming in late spring.

The pet and companion of Prince Viktor seemed the one to be enjoying it the most, happily rolling on the thick rugs and constantly stitching her nose up on the tables to get one of the appetizers much to her owner’s dismay.

“Makka!” the prince shrieked in panic when he realized her fluffy poodle had swallowed her fifth tiny pirozhki “Please behave. What if you scare the visits?”

“If she continues, then you’d have to lock her in your room” the Czar conceded, handing his grandson the poodle’s leash

Viktor nodded, tied the leash to Makka’s collar and placed her next to him.

The Beta and Omega servants roaming around sighed when watching the beautiful picture of the Rodinian prince and his loyal pet. He looked handsome as ever with his silver hair loosely tied in a ponytail making a stark contrast with the red of his coat and the heaviness of his fur cloak, very similar to that of the Czar’s but less imposing. Medals he had received for his coming of age the previous year shone brightly on his chest and a decorative sword on his left hip made him look even more regal.

If only it was like that for Yuuri as well.

The Yamato governess had come into the Czar’s rooms flushed in embarrassment to communicate their youngest prince had apparently gotten suddenly sick and they would arrive a little late to their planned dinner. A very well performed lie on the fact none of the Yamato entourage members knew what in hell had happened in the short span of five minutes they hadn’t been with the prince.

Crown Princess Hiroko had found him crying his lungs out, trembling and gently spasming even after he had been placed close to the fireplace as if he had gotten the scare of his life. He finally collapsed into a tight and long nap, exhausted from crying, only to wake up with eyes full of terror and begging not to assist to the dinner and go back home to Yamato.

Minako’s worst mistake seemingly had been mentioning they wouldn’t be able to return before spending two full weeks in Novosibirsk. She hadn’t even finished her sentence when Yuuri was wailing again.

His mother was both the most worried and the most curious about her son’s behavior: Yuuri had always been a quiet child, even as a baby he would never cry and wouldn’t do so even after having a few accidents while playing in his early childhood. If there was anything bothering him, he would approach his parents or sister and quietly mumble it, yet, no one could seem to get a word out of him.

“Yuu-chan” Hiroko gently caressed her son’s cheek only minutes before exiting their rooms “Do you feel alright?”

Yuuri mechanically nodded, making his pearled hair brooch to ring. After some long hours of fretting, they finally got Yuuri to get ready for the reception, but he still wouldn’t speak a word.

“Is there anything else you need before we go?” Hiroko wouldn’t show it, but she was desperate to see any sign of life on her son’s eyes which looked empty after his last tantrum with Lady Minako.

“I want to go home” Yuuri’s voice had an almost imperceptible broken sound.

The Yamato Crown Princess took his hand and squeezed it tightly.

“It won’t be long before we do, my sun. Just hang on a little bit, yes?”

Another mechanical nod and the doors of their rooms opened to allow their small entourage to advance towards the Dining Room, following Empress Suiko’s lead. Every step Yuuri took felt heavy as if his _tabi_ were made of lead, his eyes and head hurt after crying so much and he was getting his fingertips numb from the effort of having his scent suppressed as much as possible.

He would only have one objective in mind as long as he stayed in the cold of the Novosibirsk Palace: not to bother Prince Viktor with his presence, he would be as invisible _as any other vase in the palace._

The doors of the Dining Room opened up widely, with two pages announcing the entrance of the Yamato Royal family’s members and the Czar welcoming them anew. Their seats on the main table were strategically placed so the Empress and the Czar would face each other, the Crown Princes and the ministers would follow suit, the young Princes next and so on.

Tears of terror threatened to appear on Yuuri’s eyes when he was taken to his seat but he conceded the entirety of his hands to go numb so nothing would roll on his cheeks, he could feel the icy glare of the Rodinian prince from the other side of the table and wasn’t going to allow him to see the mess he was in that moment. The borscht placed before him had long gone turned cold when he finally got strength to eat it. For years to come, the young prince would remember that night as one of the most traumatic experiences of his life.

Yet, on the other side of the wide and heavily ornamented table, Prince Viktor couldn’t get his eyes off the beauty before him for a very different reason than that Prince Yuuri was thinking.

He had once read about the Yamato love story between a princess from the sky and a humble ox shepherd who had helplessly fallen in love at first sight. Prince Viktor was sure Orihime would never match the porcelain face of the Pince before him, nor the depth of his dark eyes or the shine of his onyx hair. Let alone the elegance and grace of his starry-embroidered clothes nor the delicate brooches adoring his hair which made it seem as if snowflake flowers had suddenly bloomed in a night field.

That night would be remembered by Prince Viktor as the night he met his first and only love.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm very thankful for all of the positive feedback you guys have given this work's first chapter! My initial intention was to keep writing but AO3 wouldn't let me mark it...  
Anyway, here you go!

It hadn’t been long ever since Rodinia had held a royal wedding celebration: less than thirty years prior, Crown Prince Alexander married Duchess Alena of House Sokolov in the midst of the confusion of the war. Their celebration had been frugal and without the glamour which would normally characterize such a big event; the future princess’ gown had been her own mother’s while the prince had used the military uniform he was normally wearing those days, instead of sharing a banquet with the nobility and the ministers, they had shared it with the people of Petrograd and the ceremony itself had to be performed in a small chapel given the city’s cathedral had been functioning as a refuge to all the people who had been displaced by the war.

It had been that frugality what had made the royal couple so popular amongst the people of Rodinia and also the reason they cried their tragically early deaths as well.

Czar Nikolas had been right when he told his son his wedding wouldn’t be an unwelcomed event for their people who were tired of the daily desolation brought by war. The celebration and the later birth of Prince Viktor brought new hopes to the Rodinians.

That was actually the reason why the Rodinians were putting so much effort in preparing a royal wedding with double the splendor and glamour the previous one had lacked: their beloved Czar had passed away only a year before.

Entire cities were dressed up in mourning clothes, crying to the news of the radio which indicated that after eighty-five years of life and sixty-three serving his people, Czar Nikolas of House Nikiforov had peacefully passed away in a quiet summer night. Crowds of thousands followed the royal family, their guests and ministers during the royal procession all the way from the Summer Palace to the cathedral’s cemetery where the royal family’s mausoleum lied.

However, the funeral was also a reminder to the society that their Crown Prince was still engaged to the Second Prince of Yamato… and that the latter had assisted the event.

Many people had heard rumors coming from the far away eastern island on the mysterious Second Prince. The only confirmed facts were that he was twenty-three years old, he was an Omega and had been educated as a foreign ambassador. But the popular gossip would also dig into details like how his natural complexion was even more beautiful than that of a porcelain figurine, how he had more artistic talent than any of the geisha in Yamato when it came to dancing and poetry, how he was so intelligent he could easily converse in more than twelve languages about any subject and how his wonderful manners had already made so many fall for him despite being promised to a foreign prince. Yet, the darkest side of things would also spread rumors that he was a person who was all too quiet, almost as if he was mute, he would easily flinch at any form of contact which didn’t come from his direct family and whose eyes would be filled with terror at any mention of his arranged marriage.

_“Are they true? Is he as beautiful as they say?”_

_“No… even more!”_

_“They say he’s so talented and could easily become ambassador was he not to be married”_

_“Can you imagine that? Twelve languages! No wonder why he’s such a good party!”_

_“I bet his and prince Viktor’s children will be beautiful as angels!”_

_“Hush! They say he can’t stand a word on the matter without fainting!”_

_“True, did you see him at the procession? Prince Viktor tried to converse with him, and he stayed still as a doll!”_

_“Yes, I saw it too! It was almost frightening how lifeless he seemed”_

_“If that’s how it was then, poor boy will have a difficult married life”_

“Meh, don’t listen to them” his friend Christophe brushed the comments of the small group behind them off with a move of his hand, as if that gesture could erase those rumors from the collective “It’s normal people blurt out everything they apparently ‘know’ when your fiancé is arriving tomorrow”

He followed his words with a long sip of beer, one of the things he missed the most whenever he left the closeness to the German Empire for too long as he had been doing for the past year. The Rodinian prince and his best friend had escaped from all the wedding ruckus of the palace and hid themselves in a small tavern they used to visit whenever the first one wanted to see and hear his people or when he was too tired of the royal life.

“But it’s true: he was like a puppet when we talked at grandfather’s funeral” Viktor conceded, absently toying with his glass of wine “He would only answer in monosyllables and he didn’t even look at me”

“Maybe he was nervous? In the end, he will be marrying you, a stranger for the most part, and moving a good continent away from his home country” Chris called for their waiter, a Beta with far too much cologne on him, to bring him another pint “Anyone would be at least a little intimidated by that… hey, careful with the hair”

The prince fixed the brunette wig he always wore whenever sneaking away from the palace. That, along with the fake beard, was a way to secure nobody would recognize him other than his best friend and his younger cousin… aside, of course, his grandfather who had been the one to gift him both items.

“Still, when we met for the first time, had it not been for his governess I assure you he wouldn’t speak a single word to me” the wine tasted sour in Viktor’s mouth, he had held it in his warm hands for too long

The first time he saw Yuuri, at the dinner organized by his grandfather at the Novosibirsk resting palace, he had asked him all sorts of questions about his interests, the books he liked, his favorite place in his home kingdom, if the travel had been tiring or not. But no matter how complex the questions were, it seemed as if the Yamato prince had been on a contest with himself to see how ridiculously short answers he was able to give.

Back then, Viktor had assumed exactly what Chris had: maybe he was just nervous. It had a lot of sense, suddenly meeting the person you are supposed to spend the rest of your life with and not exactly out of free will; also, Yuuri was barely a child, which only made him more prone to the intimidating perspective of an arranged marriage.

Still, when him and his grandfather suggested more laid-back activities such as horse riding, sled gliding in the snow or even a chess match, Yuuri’s frozen expression would never leave his lovely features. In those two weeks, Viktor considered himself lucky to have been able to make the prince talk fifty words.

“Look at you, not even married and already worried” Chris said mockingly “_Mon ami_, you will have an entire lifetime to get him used to you. And, who knows? Maybe to fall for you”

Viktor nodded lightly. Maybe his friend was right and all he needed to do was to relax a bit and enjoy his wedding and everything which came with it. He emptied his wine glass in one go and called for their waiter to bring the bill.

* * *

The Transrodinian train transporting the future Consort Emperor was still a full day of travel from its arrival to the capital city of Petrograd. Yuuri himself was the one counting the days to his marriage in an almanac he had in his private cabin.

He really tried to keep himself busy with other things rather than thinking on the fact that the day following his arrival he would be conducted to a church to swear fidelity and love in front of an unknown god towards a man who only saw him as a way to get an heir. Those had been two very productive months for him though: having finished thirty paintings, reading a book every two days, finishing a little poem collection he had written himself and even sewing himself a kimono with a deliberately higher neck to hide the bump on his nape. It wouldn’t be of any use once the time to consummate the wedding came but at the very least, it gave him a little bit of calmness while traveling.

On the table he used as both a place to eat and work, he had extended a new piece of paper and had started to work on a new painting. This one depicted the Throne Room back in Hasetsu, with his mother and father sitting next to each other, Mari and him offering their parents and the court a demonstration on the art of _tessenjutsu_, the only martial art both siblings seemed to equally outstand in.

“Isn’t that from when Oka-san turned forty?” a voice asked from the entrance

“Ah, Mari” he greeted his older sister with a light nod “Yes, I found my _tessen_ yesterday when checking some things with Minako-sensei and it reminded me of this”

Both siblings knew _some things_ was a clear reference to the accessories Yuuri was meant to wear on his wedding day.

Mari was the only person in the whole wide world who knew what his brother had heard that day at the stables of Novosibirsk and everything troubling his mind ever since. She had accidentally stumbled in his room when picking his brother to go to music class together and caught him crying in a corner, seemingly unable to move from the terror. Despite having told everything to his sister, Yuuri made her promise not to tell a soul, much less their mother or, even worse, grandmother.

Still, that didn’t stop her from trying to re-discuss the matter on every possible occasion and with every possible excuse: the resentment of some inhabitants from the north of Yamato, the monumental distance between the kingdoms, the instability and unpredictability of Yuuri’s heats, the proposals of other much closer nobilities like the Silla prince… hell, she even resorted to an ill fate prediction from a famous astrologist to try to divert her little brother’s fate. But none of them had success.

Amongst the Yamato court, everyone thought she was just being jealous and protective of her brother who, despite being taller than her, had a weak constitution and character very contrasting with her confident and somehow aggressive self. In the end, she was an Alpha and it seemed obvious she would be wary of any other of her kind getting involved with a member of her family.

“Ha, I looked strange with short hair” she mumbled while getting closer to the initial sketch, diverting her brother’s attention to the potential subject

“I liked it on you” Yuuri stood up, lending his seat and offering her a cup of tea. The train personnel had been instructed to deliver him warm water every hour, as he would have to constantly drink a medicinal tea to ease his anxiety “And you usually said it was easier to care for”

“Hm, at the very least Minako wouldn’t pull it so hard” she conceded with a faint laugh, passing the gesture to her brother.

It had been far too many years ever since Yuuri had properly laughed with a full wide smile and crackles impeding him to breathe. His laughs those days were not more than mere light chuckles which got even more drowned when he placed his sleeve before his mouth.

“Minako-sensei said it would have been good if I had let my hair grow a bit” Yuuri held one of the strands falling towards his eyes “She said it would have been a good complement with the dress”

“You don’t have to wear that if you don’t want to” she quickly retorted, a frown starting to form on her forehead “He wrote it would be alright if you decided to wear the _shiromuku_ we brought for you. We can add some Rodinian touches to it if that’s what they want”

Yuuri didn’t reply, simply flashing a quick, sad smile and lowering his gaze. Mari knew that gesture too well as he had been doing it ever more frequently as his wedding day drew nearer.

The princess’ fingers reached for her brother’s, closing them tight and offering a slight touch of her scent to calm the tempest of his mind a little bit.

“Yuuri, I’m very willing to cause a diplomatic conflict if you want me to” as much as those words would have been enough to get one of her brother’s small chuckles, the tone of her voice was so secure nobody could deny she was dead serious “I couldn’t stop them from doing this but believe I myself will fetch you as soon as he behaves like an asshole to you”

“I will be okay” Yuuri squeezed his sister’s hand a little bit, reassuring her “The palace is big as Rodinia itself, we can not see our faces for weeks”

That didn’t put Mari at much ease, but something was something.

She stood up and made for the cabinet’s door before stopping on her tracks and looking back at her little brother.

“Hey, why don’t we have lunch together in my room? I wouldn’t want you to move the painting”

“I’d like that very much” Yuuri nodded in thankfulness.

* * *

With all the bustle and hustle caused by the arriving of the Yamato, prince Yuuri was starting to miss his quiet wagon in the Transrodinian where the only sign of life moving through was the changing view of his window.

Instead, even in the room he had been designated, everyone in the Rodinian palace seemed to be in an urge to present themselves to the soon-to-be consort of the Czar. Ever since his arrival, the secondary branches of the royal family, ministers, high servants, the palace housekeeper, secretaries and more people he couldn’t remember had entered in his room to congratulate him on the marriage, wish him love and happiness in his married life, express how happy they were for having him as a consort Czar, praise him for things he was sure they had heard in ports or markets since he didn’t recall them.

Anyway, the momentarily uneasiness was preferable to the constant struggle he had felt deep within him when the Rodinian Czar welcomed him at the Petrograd train station along with half of the city’s population it seemed.

Czar Viktor had had warm words for him and gentle manners he couldn’t fully enjoy for the simple fact that it was _him. Him _who had specifically stablished years ago he didn’t want neither to bother with marrying him nor to be bothered in their marriage. So Yuuri remained still as a doll, only nodding and thanking when it was needed.

The trip from the station to the palace by carriage was even worse. Back at the first one, at least he had the comforting presence of his parents and sister as well as feeling oddly safe between the rest of the Yamato entourage who had traveled with them. But in that rolling box with seats, it was only him and the Czar.

“Was the trip comfortable?” the Rodinian inquired, from the opposite side of the carriage

“It was, thank you for your concern” Yuuri answered bluntly with just the right amount of words in the sentence.

“Ah! I’m glad!” there was some _actual_ relief in the Czar’s voice as well as some kind of, cheer maybe? Yuuri couldn’t tell with how self-conscious with restraining his aroma he was at that moment “You see, when I turned ten, my grandfather, may God have him in his Heaven, and I made the entire Transrodinian trip as a birthday gift and I recall it was quite tiring… of course I had fun as well! How wonderful it is for a ten-year-old to swim in the southern seas one day and then sled riding the next one?”

“I suppose so” was his short answer

“If you desire so, we can make the trip again for our honeymoon” the Czar dropped casually, evidently not noticing the flinch in Yuuri’s arm at his words “Of course, we would stop at all of the places you want, it won’t be a rushed thing like it was now. Or perhaps, you wish another destination?”

_I want to go home _Yuuri thought. _Anywhere but close to you is fine_

“Anywhere is fine”

The prince kept speaking and asking while Yuuri gave him shorter and shorter answers each time for what insufferably felt like hours to the Yamato prince until they finally arrived at the palace. A page at the foot of their chariot announced him and the Czar.

While there was nowhere where it had been written as an actual rule but on a code of good manners, the Alpha was the one to come down first and help the Omega descend yet, that day would probably be written down in History as the day a future Consort not only rejected but actually flinched away from his fiancé’s touch.

As soon as he felt the tip of his fingertips being touched by that skin flooded in such a foreign scent, all of the alarms inside his head rang in terror and forced him to cut the touch as soon as possible.

Had he been a little more attentive of his surroundings, he would have noticed the shock on the faces of every single servant who had welcomed them and even more, on the Czar’s face. It was only a few seconds before it was the Rodinian Czar the one to brush away the incident as his betrothed being too exhausted from all the traveling and called a couple of omega maids to guide him to the room he would use for the night.

“…ness?”

A cheerful voice brought him back to the reality of his ornamentally cramped bedroom and to the girl with fiery red hair and a lustrous satin dress in bright pink before him. Besides from her bright blue eyes, one could have easily painted her with a palette full of pinks and crimsons. Sniffing slightly, Yuuri could also tell she was an Alpha by her musky yet fruity scent.

“Ah, forgive me” he bowed slightly in apology for not paying proper attention “I feel a little distracted today”

“There’s nothing to forgive your Highness!” she happily replied, taking a seat next to him, something none of the past visitors had done “It’s only natural really, I would also be like that if I had done the Transrodinian with no actual stops! But that’s not why I came here…”

She clapped twice in a light manner and a maid entered in her command, holding a box similar satiny envelope as her own outfit but in a bright red which could easily recall her hair. She grabbed the neatly prepared box from the maid’s hands and presented it to him.

“Etiquette says we have to come here to congratulate you and wish you good life for your marriage with my cousin and all those fancy things for weddings” she said in a very nonchalant manner which surprised Yuuri “But let’s be real, with all those people, I highly doubt you feel even remotely eager to marry, so… I brought something I thought you would actually appreciate!”

Yuuri grabbed the box from her hands, careful not to touch her and placed it on his lap before opening it.

The Yamato prince gasped slightly when he saw a beautiful set of oil painting colors sealed in delicately carved glass jars with decorated metal lids. If he remembered correctly, those could only be fetched in countries like Sicilia or Galia.

“I… thank you very much” he said wholeheartedly, deeply bowing with his face flushed by the gesture “I will treasure and make good use of them”

The Alpha lady before him grinned widely, clapping her hands in childlike excitement.

“I’m so glad you liked them your Highness! Take it as a welcome gift to the continent from princess Sara and I!”

Oh, princess Sara? As in Second Princess Sara of Sicilia? The youngest twin of the Crispino House? And if this lady claimed to be cousins with the Czar, she would be…

“Ah, Grand Duchess Mila” he finally acknowledged “Forgive me, I didn’t recognize you. Perhaps I didn’t hear the page…”

Duchess Mila flashed a wide grin and repeated the gesture she had made for the prince to ease his nervousness. Unlike all of the previous people, she stayed in his room some good five minutes or so lightly conversing with him about anything and everything: from the weather when he left Yamato to ask for lessons in embroidery to make something pretty for her own fiancée.

Being in love must be nice, Yuuri thought to himself once the kind duchess was gone, and even better to be married to someone you actually liked.

The visitors seemed to be done for and the dark if the night was already outside of his window. Despite being late spring, he asked for the fire to be lit as he could feel his toes get cold in his tabi. he couldn't even remember the last time he had felt so cold back at home; the closest reference was a winter he had spent at Sapporo with his parents.

“Your Highness,” the maid saluted before leaving his room “His majesty the Czar requires your presence for dinner tonight along his Highnesses the Emperors of Yamato”

“Ah, thank you very much” the prince nodded lightly, dismissing her.

The night passed in a blurry flash for him amongst some of his servants helping him dress in an even more formal kimono with a deeper neck to expose the base of his nape, his sister coming to fetch him and both royal siblings entering the dining hall in the midst of flashy fanfare, him being sit next to his fiancée and not actually eating anything at all other than spiced tea. His only actual sensation came when the Czar accompanied him to his room with the vigilant eyes of his sister on them.

“I wish for you to have a good night of sleep” he whispered while bowing down to place a kiss on his knuckles.

The gesture which had all the intention to be a romantic deed, made Yuuri dizzy and his headache with how hard he was trying to contain his tears. The usual numbness anybody felt when suppressing their smell in the same large periods of time he did was something he hadn’t felt in years after training his suppression since his early teens.

Prince Viktor said goodbye for the night and disappeared with his small entourage through the halls. His sister however, stayed with him until he finally fell asleep between tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Also, I have to let you know, this was only kind of a more world-building and transitional chapter so I admit I slacked off a bit while writing it. But fear not! The next chapter will treat the main event ;) )


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: this chapter will contain non-consensual marriage and implied rape between the main couple (Victuuri).

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

Yuri was fed up with the sound of that word which had been ringing in his ears for the entire morning while other noble Omegas helped and took over the entire process of dressing up his cousin’s bride in the traditional Rodinian dress given to him as a wedding gift. By tradition in both Yamato and Rodinian culture, only the Omega relatives of the couple were able to help the Bride prepare for the ceremony, yet, this was a royal wedding, meaning every high ranking noble of both royal families was up for the task even if they didn’t want to… like him.

Grand Duke Yuri Mikhailovich of the House Plisetsky was, along his cousin Mila, the sole direct family members of Czar through their grandfather Nikolai. He was technically, the highest-ranking Omega in the room except for the bride and his mother the Empress, but he wasn’t anywhere nearby the big oval mirror where the Second Prince was getting his chin-length hair combed and decorated with gem and golden brooches.

He was sort of scared of his future cousin-in-law ever since the prior day when he had gone into his temporary chambers to welcome and congratulate him and saw nothing but emptiness in Prince Yuuri’s eyes, heard nothing but a void in his voice. He was only ever more shocked when Mila happily told him how ‘charming and cute’ he was while they were having dinner.

“Potya! Get back here!” his cat got his attention back from the windmills of his mind when it climbed up the bride’s lap, making some of the self-appointed hairdressers back off with surprise.

Unexpectedly for him and basically every Rodinian in the room, the Yamato bride smiled faintly before caressing the behind of Potya’s ears and actually making his beloved pet purr deeply in delight. During the four hours he had been getting dressed and groomed, the Yamato Second Prince had been looking like a lifeless puppet who would only move by the words of his own mother, Empress Hiroko.

If he was being honest with himself, he had actually thought his cousin Victor was marrying a revived corpse.

“Cute. What’s its name?” the prince asked, surprising Yuri with the sound of his voice.

It was really soft and gentle, but also a little croaky for not to say rusty as one would expect from a machine which hasn’t been used in a long time. Nonetheless, he had that royal charm which prompted anyone to easily follow and do whatever he wanted, and immediately made Yuri jump from his seat and run to the other’s side.

“Uh… Potya” he answered, flustered for no reason

“It’s cute” was the other’s simple and almost inaudible reaction.

The other Omegas around them kept talking and praising the distracted bride, paying little to no actual attention to him, giving Yuri the chance to have a closer look at his soon to be cousin-in-law. Instantly shocking himself when he realized Prince Yuuri didn’t have any smell.

How long had he been containing his smell? He already looked like a shy guy, maybe the wedding ruckus was only making him ever more nervous? How much of his body had gone numb by then? The few times Yuri had done so himself out of mere curiosity, he got nauseous, the medics had to be called and Lilia had scolded him severely.

“Do you have any pets… your Majesty?” he asked, almost forgetting the now mandatory formality

“I don’t” Prince Yuuri answered, still reluctant to move his eyes from Potya “But I do like animals”

“What about games?” he continued, slightly moved by how uncomfortable the prince seemed to be in the midst of the getting-ready chaos in the room “Cards or board games?”

“Ah, I really like both of them… but I often have very bad luck when playing cards” Yuri realized the prince had sleepless bags underneath chocolate eyes. Their dryness revealed how the other Omegas had tried to hide them.

“Yuratchka!” Aanya called from next to them “Help!”

Aanya had signed herself up for doing the bride’s hair, bragging about her abilities with creating beautiful works of art with hair and showed her own complex rose braided up-do as proof to her words. Yet, she had quite the advantage with her thick curly mane and was having a hard time trying to braid Prince Yuuri’s straight and skimpy hair.

“I’m trying to make another braid to tie his hair in a bun besides the ones of the front so we can fit either the kokoshnik or the other headdress” Aanya explained with a large smile “Our happy bride still has to decide which one he likes the most! Right, your Highness?”

Yuri could clearly see the sudden flinch the Yamato Prince made when Aanya gently placed a hand over his shoulders. It seemed even Potya noticed the mood change as she leaped off the prince’s lap with a complaining screech. Yet, the prince didn’t voice out loud how the gesture had made him uncomfortable, staying still with wide terrorized eyes.

Potya grabbed his attention once more when he climbed up to his arms, demanding the caresses the prince had stopped. Yuri sat in the back again, remembering Mila had told him about the Yamato arrival in the morning and how he had had the same reaction when Viktor had tried to help him down of the carriage.

Perhaps it was naïve coming from a fifteen-year old, but when time came for either his cousin or grandpa to arrange a marriage with an Alpha, he really wanted it to be with someone he _knew_ and _liked_. He just couldn’t picture himself in the prince’s shoes, having to marry a stranger and settling somewhere that far from the place he had lived in for his entire life.

Some excited little screeches from the other Omegas in the room made him realize the bride was ready. The Empress stood up from his honor seat with a wide smile holding the embellished _kokoshnik_ which would be the final piece of the outfit.

Everybody cheered when she placed it over her son’s lowered head, but Yuri only got scared again when the Prince’s mirror reflection looked as if someone had slurped the life out of his eyes.

* * *

The paintings, columns and even the crucifixes of Petrograd’s Grand Cathedral seemed to be floating amongst flamboyant clouds of white roses and camelias with perfumed candles making the distinguished wedding guests drunk with their sweetly intoxicating aroma.

With both royal entourages filling all of the carved wood places with the rustle of silk and velvet, making their jewels ring along the smiles and soft laughter. Outside the cathedral, the population of Petrograd had poured themselves into the streets with even more flowers to throw at the newlyweds as soon as the ceremony was done.

The young Czar was exceptionally happy inside his carriage, waving a gloved hand to his cheering subjects through the small window. He really hoped they were sharing his happiness as he was finally getting married to the Omega that had captured his heart since he was sixteen.

Several other Omegas had wasted their time impertinently flirting with him, lowering the necklines of their clothes in such an extent Viktor was able to see their naked backs and some others had shamelessly wandered through the court in the middle of their heats. They may have been beautiful, but none of them would ever make him feel anything remotely as intense and wonderful as his Yuuri had when they met.

So what if he was a little shy? They would have the entirety of their lifetimes to get to know each other, just as Christophe had said.

“My child, this is the first time in more than fifty years that I have seen our church so beautifully full!” the priest greeted him with joy when he stepped down his vehicle “Their Majesties must be celebrating for you in Heaven”

“I hope their blessings reach my bride as well” he answered happily

A second carriage arrived soon after, and Viktor felt his grandfather and parents had definitely blessed him: a fairy dressed in white and gold with specks of light blue descended from it, his jeweled _kokoshnik_ was a perfect halo framing those beautiful features, making Viktor crave the red painted lips standing out in a pale face. He could write entire poetry books describing the stunning apparition before him!

He exchanged a short greeting bow with him, solemnly hushing the crowd and marking the start of the ceremony.

With his usual detached demeanor, Yuuri walked next to him, both holding large and thick candles with sacred carvings in bright red colored wax while the priest gave them the first blessing to enter the House of God before placing a beautiful and thick gold craved ring on each of their right hands while declaring the betrothal of them both before God’s eyes.

Viktor had been slightly nervous his fiancé would flinch away from the act of the ring placement, knowing all too well how quickly the nobility could speak poison of the court’s newcomer. Yet, he was happily surprised when he grabbed the prince’s hand and was allowed to slide the ring through his slender and delicate finger with complete submission. His grace and manners were no less when it was the Yamato’s turn to put a ring on his finger.

Only then did the royal couple entered the cathedral amongst the chorus chants as an ethereal background to the priest’s profound psalms accompanying their steps while the guests hushed in respectful silence. Viktor was about to trip thrice before they arrived at the small stage before the alter where the actual ceremony would be performed: it wasn’t as if he could help it, his bride looked too beautiful to pay attention to anything else.

Had he not rehearsed over and over again the entire ceremony with Lilia for the previous two months, Viktor would be at a complete loss of what step was next. Thankfully, after so much repetition, he was able to almost automatically say:

_“I, Viktor Alexandrovich of House Nikiforov, Czar of Ruthenia, have come freely and without constraints, to be joined by God as husband to Yuuri of House Katsuki, Second Prince of Yamato”_

With a nod of the priest, the candle in his hand was lit, a symbol of his faith and willingness to follow the Light of Truth which would have to also guide his marriage.

Viktor couldn’t help but notice how croaky Yuuri’s voice was when he spoke, as if he was about to cry. He couldn’t help but feel touched by it, since he was pretty much feeling the same out of emotion.

_“I, Yuuri of House Katsuki, Second Prince of Yamato, have come freely and without constraints… to be joined by God as bride to Viktor Alexandrovich of House Nikiforov, Czar of Ruthenia”_

Yuuri’s candle was lit and the ceremony proceeded amongst more prayers Viktor couldn’t focus on at all.

Was Yuuri’s voice like that all the time? He had heard a few times about the Second Prince’s beautiful dancing and singing, something he had wanted to behold ever since he had learned about it. Maybe Yuuri could sing a little bit at the party? Yuratchka could easily play something on the piano to accompany! Or maybe Crown Princess Mari would delight them on her _koto_!

Speaking of his cousin and soon-to-be sister in law, they were behind him and Yuuri as their Alpha and Omega witnesses while holding the same candles the couple did.

Yuratchka was almost not involved at all in the preparation of the wedding, the only times Viktor recalled his cousin being interested in the ruckus was when he insisted on serving traditional pirozhkis as aperitives instead of the fancy Frank-like bread Lilia suggested and when they were revising the guest list for the eleventh time: it seemed he really wanted to make sure they had not forgotten by any means to invite Prince Otabek.

Crown Princess Mari on the other hand… maybe it was his own perception, but it seemed as if she’d rather be absolutely anywhere else in the world but in her brother’s wedding. It was known she had always had quite a solemn and stoic face, fit for an Alpha woman, but right there, her eyes were glued on Viktor and had the most unfriendly gaze on them. Viktor tried to ignore those stinging eyes, so different from Yuuri’s gentle one, during the long Ektenia prayers.

Then, the soft mumbles which had been running through the guest benches died completely as the most important and solemn part of the ceremony came around: settled on a small pedestal of their own behind the priest, rested a pair of crowns on a red velvet cushion for each.

After his grandfather’s passing, Viktor had started being appointed as Czar as soon as the news were made public, he had only been missing his coronation ceremony.

When he had been a child, he would often go into the Throne Room at the palace while his mother was stuck in bed and too weak to play with him. Grandpa Nikolas was always up for dismissing his entourage for a couple of minutes just so he could have a little bit of playtime with his grandson. Of course, those playtimes implied Viktor would sit on the throne and try his grandpa’s crown until his head was buried to the neck in it.

Those moments seemed so long ago and the crown too little on his head. Yet, it was heavy as ever.

Next to him, Yuuri’s jeweled _kokoshnik_ was removed from his head, leaving only a light see through silk over his face. Instead, the Consort Crown was placed over his head: a fan-like creation in white gold, diamonds and drop pearls and a twin ruby to his own crown. Did Yamato gods look like his Yuuri did?

How could he focus on the story of the Lord’s miracles at a Cana wedding when there was a miracle of beauty right before his eyes?

A cup of champagne was given to the couple, a single cup for both to drink which represented the mutual sharing of the joys and sorrows they would face in life, marriage and royalty. From the moment Yuuri’s lips emptied the beverage, they would become one forever.

The priest wrapped a long, embroidered silk epitrachelion around their wrists, a representation of their bond, before making them walk round the pedestal where the sacred book had been placed thrice with Yurachtka and Princess Mari following their steps.

Their journey as a married couple had begun. Viktor’s heart leaped in pure joy inside his chest while the final prayer resounded in his ears.

Bells above their heads rang to spread the good news through the Petrograd citizens who were waiting outside the doors of the Cathedral. Viktor’s people rejoiced amongst cheers, loud applauses and even chants.

“My husband and I are happy we have gained another son!” Empress Hiroko congratulated Viktor

“My best wishes to the royal couple!” Lady Okukawa congratulated along the rest of the Yamato entourage

“May the Lord bless you both with a happy marriage and many children!” his cousin Mila presented a large beautiful bouquet to Yuuri

“Mila!” Viktor hushed her, scandalized “Don’t you think there are better things you could say at a wedding?”

Few people heard his cousin’s out-of-place words and giggled with her, but Viktor moved towards Yuuri, wondering if he had perhaps blushed to the scandalous congratulation. He was holding to the bouquet Mila had gifted him on one hand and clutching the skirt of his dress with the other, his face was still covered by the veil, but his expression would have been perfectly visible had it been any.

He was about to ask him if he was alright when a strong scent of musk mixed with the imposing perfume of a mandarin tree in full bloom invaded his nostrils as Princess Mari approached her brother.

“_Daijoubu?_” she asked in Yamato

“_Boku wa shinpai shitte iru_” he answered in a quiet voice, followed by the only word Viktor could understand while cursing all those years he didn’t dedicate himself more to his language studies “Champagne”

Oh!

They were just married and Yuuri was trying to kill him with his cuteness? Viktor’s heart wouldn’t be able to take it for long! During their first toast with champagne, their first kiss as a couple would take place. Could it be his husband was already looking forward to it? Then he better not make Yuuri wait!

With a sign to Lilia, the royal couple was prompted to exit the cathedral along the most distinguished guests who would follow the royal carriage along a tour through the city before returning to the palace where the celebration would take place.

Viktor intertwined his arm with his husband’s, he didn’t even notice the latter’s flinch amidst his happiness, stepping out into the blinding sunlight and the crowd’s uproar of cheering and applause.

“_Here they come! The imperial couple!_”

“_Congratulations!”_

“_Long-live the imperial couple!_”

Not only were his people happy. He was happy too.

* * *

Although he knew his best friend hadn’t been able to attend his wedding because his parents and Alpha younger brother had come in representation of the Siam Royal Family, Yuuri was sending all of his thankfulness towards him.

Back at Yamato, the Katsuki family would often receive the Chulanont children from the Siamese royal family during the summer as Yamato had a larger flux of teachers and professors coming from different parts of the West who would offer their services to the royals. Besides, the summer months were much more forgiving and less suffocating in Hasetsu.

The second prince had found his best friend outside his family in Prince Phichit, a young Omega who was all smiles, always up for adventure (meaning trouble and later scolding) and was always surprisingly understanding with the nervousness Yuuri felt about multiple things and situations surrounding him. As a result, he took the matter in his own hands and taught him one of the most useful things in his life.

“_My __Khuṇ pū̀ told me he traveled to a kingdom in the mountains that are close to the Heaven to learn from the bald monks that live in there_” Phichit had revealed in a mysterious tone once when the little princes were about to sleep “_He said that it’s a technique to make your mind stop_”

“_Stop?_” he had replied in a fearful tone

“_Don’t be afraid! It stops as if you have separated the body from it_” Phichit was quick to ease his friend “_It will be like having two Yuuris! One in your body and another in your mind_”

That summer, the following summers of the following years and even days before he was wed to Viktor of Ruthenia, he trained the ability to split his mind away from his body. Whatever happened to his outside carcass, wouldn’t affect his mind nor his thoughts, where most of his demons lived. Yet, with the years he came to realize that if he wanted to employ Phichit’s technique in events like royal receptions or even his own wedding, he would have to train the Physical Yuuri through continuous repetitions so he would be able to go through without Mind Yuuri having to analyze the situation.

Inside the carriage transporting him towards the cathedral and with Mari holding his hand to ease his nervousness a little, he started to take deep breaths to detach himself, otherwise, he knew he wouldn’t be able to stand the horrible sensation of having his hand held by the Czar.

Something he saw. His smiling parents before him.

See it no more.

Something he smelled. Mari’s scent, protecting him and sheltering one last time.

Smell it no more.

Something he heard. The crowds outside the window chanting in Ruthenian.

Hear it no more.

Something he tasted. The scent of lemon tea they had served him for breakfast.

Taste it no more.

Something he touched. Silk and beads over his body in a wedding dress.

Feel it no more.

Feel no more.

Feel.

No more.

Next, there was nothing but a kind of strange blank.

For the last few years he had been forced to use a pair of spectacles due to his bad vision and he couldn’t find a more accurate way of describing what he saw in that state than being stripped away from his spectacles twice or thrice until all that was left were colorful paint stains. His hearing reduced entire crowd uproars to mere confusing echoes and the usual numbness in his ears and fingertips extended through his entire body making him feel the illusion of walking amongst muffling cotton.

He had had the most exhausting two days of his life from the moment he arrived at Petrograd and wasn’t even able to breath nor sleep without tightening all of his nerves and limbs. And for the first time, he was at peace.

How he wished this technique could be applied through everything, because as soon as what he had rehearsed ended, he regained his senses and the bustle of the world around him was present anew. This time, he was awoken by Mari softly shaking his shoulder when she and their parents approached.

“My husband and I are happy we have gained another son!” his mother’s words were the first to come through his ears, the numbness of his body not allowing shivers to climb up his spine.

“My best wishes to the royal couple!” Minako-sensei told them with a deep bow

“May the Lord bless you both with a happy marriage and many children!”

Those words coming from duchess Mila made his breath hitch and it almost made him loose the control he had over his scent glands which would have alerted everyone on how utterly terrified he was of the moment night came with the Czar demanding his right to mark his neck.

Mari got closer and surrounded him with the same protecting scent she had been using ever since the night she found him petrified with terror for his then-fiancé. The perfume of citrus in bloom allowed him to breathe normally again.

“Are you okay?” she asked in Yamato, with the clear intention of not letting the Czar to know what troubled him

“I’m worried” he confessed, an inquiring glance from his sister made him elaborate further “Champagne”

Unfortunately, there was no other word to substitute the description of that western beverage which was full of air and had a foul taste to Yuuri’s tongue, so the Czar was quick to discover his concerns, which weren’t a concern at all to him since he grabbed his arm and forced him to go out of the large temple at once.

Yuuri squeezed a bouquet he had no idea how it had ended in his arms as if it would save him of the grip of the Czar and of the all too loud sound of the faceless mass outside. He felt slightly better once the four walls of the carriage surrounded him, but he was left alone with _him_.

“They all cheer for us!” the Czar commented happily while saluting the crowd through the small window of the vehicle. Without any answer in his mind, Yuuri simply bowed in compliance “Neither my parents nor my grandfather are here, but I’m sure they are happy for us in Heaven!”

Heaven… Minako-sensei had spoken him about what people in the west referred as heaven and he seriously wished for his grandparents to share some of the strength they had had during the harsh times of the war to fulfill his duty with his nation. He was doing this for a lasting peace, he was a prince and would do anything for securing the safety of his people over his own happiness.

“Yuuri! We have arrived!”

Already?! Had the tour been so fast? He hadn’t even had time to prepare himself for the imminent kiss he and the Czar would have to share. Would there be time still? He had to try, try and breathe, try and disconnect-damn it Katsuki Yuuri! Just try it!

A crystal craved cup was handed to him by a man with a beard like a sunset in grays and a pair of eyes he swore he had seen once in his childhood. The brother of late Czar Nikolas as he recalled from his studies. Defeated, he merely wetted his lips with the pink alcohol.

The Czar wasted no time in pressing his lips against his and Yuuri felt his Omega screaming in terror from the inside.

Yuuri felt a hot void trying to devour him in a flash of moist leading the way for an intruder trying for him to open his firmly sealed lips. The Ruthenian grabbed his hands, making him flinch and involuntarily open his mouth, the strong odor of champagne filling him like a poison he tried to cough away. The people around him cheered and felt as if they were celebrated his disgraces.

With a brief salute from the Czar towards his people outside the palace gates, Yuuri felt he had seen one of those photographs depicting a hunter celebrating the death of an innocent animal. The palace doors were opened soon after and he let his sobbing go loose.

“Oh dear! Are you alright?” the Czar’s voice close to him made him put up his walls again, forcing himself to nod and stop his tears on their tracks.

He had been educated as a prince who would give up anything for his people, his country and his family. _This_ wasn’t the time to let it all go to waste.

Unlike what he had initially thought, he actually enjoyed the banquet. He had pretty much eaten nothing in his two days at Petrograd since in every meal there were only Ruthenian dishes and Czar Viktor sitting either in front or next to him. But right there, they had served Yamato delicacies he indulged himself on besides having his family to his left and the Czar too focused on talking with his family on their side of the table. Music, dances, speeches and even poetry followed in the heavily decorated hall of the Petrograd palace until night came by.

All of the toasts wishing him and the Czar empty promises of long lives and a happy marriage had already been voiced all over by every single guest in the room as soon as alcohol went on as a stream, all that was left in the golden and white room were the frenetic dances and drunken songs which Yuuri had politely rejected every single time the Czar or their families asked for it: his cracking nerves were all too hyped and he was certain the moment he stood up for any of those things, his knees would give up under the weight of his body, dress and crown.

Very lightly and in an almost undetectable motion, he moved towards the end of the table where large flower vases stood, hiding him amongst the white of roses and baby’s breath. The staircase wasn’t far from there and the hallway leading to his room wasn’t either, or so he thought when he was intercepted by one of the guards.

“Your Imperial Highness,” a guard formally addressed him “The Czar’s rooms are on that direction, two corridors to the right. Should I call Lady Baranovskaya to guide you?”

“Oh, no. It’s alright, I can do it on my own” apparently, he would get no calm before the storm that would be the main course of the night

Finding ‘his’ new rooms wasn’t difficult at all; two corridors to the right, in the dead-end filled with a total of ten guards keeping an eye on an imposing white carved wooden door, he knew he had arrived at his destination. The stoic soldiers didn’t make a single move, allowing him to enter.

In the all too ornamented room, only a few candles had been lit, with the evident intent to set up the ambiance. There was also a kind of red kimono stretched on the bed, the only evidence of Yamato tradition in the entire palace probably, as it was a traditional part of his country’s wedding night ceremony.

That he had rehearsed too.

He would dress in red, lowering the garment’s neck, and kneel on the bed to wait the arrival of his Alpha; then he would have to endure the entire act before allowing his neck to be bitten, otherwise, they said the mark on his neck would remain red and swollen as if the bite had injected poison in him. Only that, there was no futon and he had seen the Czar too immersed in alcohol to believe he would accurately respect all of the steps of the ceremony.

With a sigh, Yuuri resigned himself and, after getting rid of the dress, hairpiece and makeup, he began to breathe softer and deeper while putting on the bright red garment. The Czar would do whatever he needed to do, but he just didn’t want to feel it at all.

Something he saw. The wallpaper glistening in the candlelight.

See it no more.

Something he smelled. The perfumed sachets on the pillows.

Smell them no more…

* * *

“My friend, this one is for a successful and delightful night tonight!” Christophe silently spoke on Viktor’s ear before smirking while giving a deep and almost emptying sip to the wine on his cup.

Basically, all of the previous thirty or so toasts his best friend had made between them, had implied something to do with his soon-to-happen wedding night. And all of those thirty or so toasts had made him blush and glance towards the table where his husband was sitting quietly, sometimes munching on a Yamato fish or algae dish. He made a mental note on thanking Lilia for the excellent idea of including foreign delicacies at the banquet.

Yet, this time when he turned his head, Yuuri’s seat was empty.

Viktor glanced at the dancing multitude in the center of the hall. Frills of tulle and silk embroidered in jewelry glistened as the Ruthenians and Yamato danced in tune with the musician’s creations. Mila was swiftly spinning in Princess Sala’s arms, Yurachka was talking to a side of the ruckus with his friend Otabek under the watchful vigilance of his grand-uncle Nikolai, Princess Mari and her parents were engaged in a passionate talk while Lady Okugawa seemed to enjoy the wine selection. But the one he was looking for seemed to be nowhere to be found.

“Chris, do you see Yuuri…?” he wondered while returning his attention towards his friend who had already flee away from his seat, in the search of a sweet Omega, most likely “Ah, what a great friend you are”

The ruckus was a perfect cover for Viktor’s tiptoeing away from the multitude towards the guards in the farer corner of the room. If they were doing their job correctly, then they would be helpful enough to pinpoint where his husband was.

“Good evening, gentlemen!” he greeted charismatically, earning an instant stiffing and cling of weapons on their waists

“Good evening, Your Imperial Highness” them both answered automatically, saluting politely with a slight reverence “How can we serve you?”

Anatoly and Dimitri, he recalled. They had entered five years ago to the service in the palace, part of the first batch of servants he had employed, both of them had served in the Imperial army during their teenage years while the war was in full rage. Anatoly even had a scarring over his right cheek to prove it.

“It seems I have lost my husband in the crowd, have you seen him by any chance?”

“His Imperial Highness, the Czarina, seemed to be tired and retired to the Imperial bedrooms” Dimitri responded with the usual blunt tone of a soldier.

Oh!

Then, given all of the toasts and beautiful discourses had been spoken, lavish gifts received, and polite smiles expressed, maybe it was time for him to leave his fancy guests in the very capable hands of Lilia.

“I see, thank you very much” he gave a slight nod, quickly answered by a deeper one from the guards “Then, could you tell Lady Baranovskaya to take the lead please?”

With a short agreement from the guards, Viktor let a genuinely happy smile slide over his lips and settled his steps towards door leading to the main staircase and then turn to his rooms.

According to every single wedding tradition known in the world, the wedding night between an Alpha and an Omega would always follow the same pattern to result into a fulfilled duty and two fulfilled individuals: mating, knotting and marking. Yet, if there was something Yuuri had sealed with fire in his mind besides from his beauty was how utterly shy he was, and he knew the moment he felt dominant enough to make-do the actual act was far away from him still.

Unfortunately, he also knew how poisonous the mumbles and mutters in the court could be: if Yuuri’s scent wasn’t coated in his own by the following day, he would immediately become the primary material of wicked gossips which wouldn’t take long to find their way outside of the palace gates.

_Then?_ the Czar wondered to himself. _It’s not like you can do this halfway through, only to fool their eyes._

A hint of an answer, not even a full one, floated through the wide spaces of his mind as he opened the door of his bedroom, dismissing his tenth of guards to a farther location. Not only their pheromones would anger his Alpha but their mere presence wouldn’t let him think a solution.

Yet, all of his plans came crumbling down when he distinguished a figure in the dim candlelight of the room.

His husband was kneeling on the border of the bed, back facing the door, dressed in an embroidered silk robe in such a bright color Viktor was sure he didn’t have a need to put it in the sunlight to see its true brightness. For once in his two days in Petrograd, his usual updo had been discarded, granting the Alpha a beautiful vision of soft liquid black strands falling over snowy glowing shoulders.

Not only his physical mouth went completely dry with the image before, but for once, his mind had gone completely speechless.

Viktor didn’t know how long he stayed still on his doorway, just staring.

“Oh! Um, hello Yuuri” he had never heard his voice go stutter like that in his entire life. And he had to do it on his wedding night “You see… I had this idea that maybe we should not go all for it tonight… not because I don’t want to! Please don’t think that! It’s simply I would like for us to get to know each other better before getting this step. Still, tomorrow morning, people will talk if we don’t show them something, so I had the idea to merely bite you…”

Silence.

Then, Yuuri ever so lightly bowed his head, his neck and torso following suite until the Yamato prince was completely lying on the bed.

“Alright then” Viktor sighed with relief and sat on the side

The Czar proceeded to slowly approach his husband, the memory of Yuuri running away from his touch still lingering in his mind, so he had the utmost care when time came to remove the curtain of black hair covering his neck.

“I will only hold you over your clothes, alright?” he asked, obtaining the same quiet silence as any form of response.

He kept his promise and held Yuuri’s shoulders, touching the silk of the fabric instead of his skin and even pulled the borders a little further so the Omega would feel a little bit more comfortable. He didn’t know if his husband would feel another kind of pain different from the actual bite, so he got him a small cushion close to his hands if he needed to cling onto something, even when Viktor would have given the entirety of Sibirsk to be in place of the cushion.

Only when he was as close to the naked skin that he was able to feel the warmth emanating from it, was Viktor able to smell Yuuri’s personal perfume. It smelled sweet and mellow but also light and flowery, unlike the strong fruity aroma his sister could flood an entire room with. Viktor had only smelled something like this once when Empress Suiko brought him what she called _sakura mochi_ as a gift during their first meeting.

The promise of something as soft and delicious on his tongue marked his final decision as his teeth sank in a soft plump bulge which had nothing to envy the most finely made _sakura mochi_.

Then, hell unraveled.

* * *

Doctor Ivan Botkin had a long history serving as the main health figure for the Imperial Family of Rodinia.

His medical career at the Petrograd palace began when he had just finished his studies at the Imperial Academy of Medicine and Infirmary of Petrograd. Doctor Pirogov who was then serving the Imperial Family decided to take him under his wing after knowing from his professors that while he had been a good student, he was all too quiet and serious; perfect qualities for serving at the palace where keeping secrets and being discrete were absolute pre-requirements.

Doctor Botkin accompanied his mentor until the day he passed away and Czar Nikolas appointed him the honor of serving him and his family.

He had been there when Czar Nikolas and his husband Igor had Prince Sasha, he treated the Czar’s depression when his Omega passed away after the birth, he diagnosed and treated the prince he had delivered when he contracted a sickness in the barracks, he happily announced the pregnancy of Grand Duchess Alena while also aiding her into presenting Prince Viktor into the world. And in the past twenty years, he had also been the bearer of the horrendous news of the deaths of the Czar, his son and daughter-in-law.

If God was merciful to him, he truly hoped he would be able to joyfully announce a new little prince or princess before passing his position to a new apprentice.

Such were his silent thoughts in the midst of the wedding reception party between Czar Viktor and his now Czarina Yuuri when Lady Baranovskaya approached his seat as silently as a cat.

“Doctor Botkin” she greeted bluntly, a slight tone of hurry in her voice “please exit the hall discreetly and go towards the Emperor’s room. Don’t forget to tell the guards to lock all the doors on your way”

As quick as she appeared, the palace’s housekeeper evaporated away, suddenly the music sounded louder so he followed instructions immediately, after excusing himself to his wife.

The guards on his way towards his destination would only open the doors what was strictly necessary to allow him to pass through while sucking in his stomach and wouldn’t even wait for the heel of his shoes to pass before quickly locking the doors again.

What was most disturbing was that the closer he got to the Emperor’s bedroom, the louder he could hear pained screams and horrifying wails which seemed to emerge from the very hell the Holy Scriptures described.

“Doctor Botkin!” his apprentice, young Vasilisa, was waiting for him at the entrance door with a box in her hands and a terrified expression on her face “I… brought these from the consulting room!”

“Perfect” he congratulated bluntly before glancing at the standing guards “I might need your help gentlemen, so pay attention”

He entered to the source of the screams followed by Vasilisa and both felt their jaws fall in pure shock.

Their new Czarina was retorting in pain on the room’s floor, staining the carpet with light specks of blood coming from his neck which seemed to palpitate in a way doctor Botkin had only seen when a snake had bitten a boy during his travels. But what his Czarina was experiencing right now? He had only read about its dangers in books.

Czar Viktor was seemingly trying to get ahold of his husband to calm him down but every time his hands gripped any part of the Czarina, he would renew his terrible screams and launch kicks towards his husband in an attempt to get free from his arms.

“Vasilisa, sleeping solution!” the doctor commanded, allowing his own Omega smell to surround him in an attempt to ease down the Czarina as he approached him while signaling the Czar to get away from his husband “Please give us space, Your Highness”

His technique seemed to prove successful because it wasn’t long before, now free from the Czar’s grip, the Czarina’s terrified screams decreased until only the sobbing full of pain remained. The Yamato was trying to touch his neck, but he would immediately retract his now bloodstained hands back while his cries increased.

“_Tasukete_…” the Czarina managed to say between sobs

While he couldn’t translate his words, he knew exactly what he meant. A gesture of his hand hurried Vasilisa to hand him a syringe.

“I will help you, your Majesty” he spoke calmly while allowing his scent to calm the other Omega “Please extend your arm. This will make the pain disappear if you extend your arm”

Despite having his mind evidently clouded by the pain, the Czarina allowed his right arm to untangle from the crying ball he had turned himself into. The needle and the solution went in, a few seconds later, the Czarina fell to a deep chemical slumber.

Doctor Botkin made two guards fetch him a stretcher from his office and transport the Czarina to the closest bedroom to it, instructing Vasilisa which ointments to apply as soon as he arrived and which medicines to have ready. Another guard was sent to call for a group of maids to come into the room to clean the bloody mess on the bed and carpet.

He was left alone with the Czar.

“Your Highness, as intimate as these matters are, I need you to tell me what happened”

Czar Viktor seemed to be shocked himself by the turn of events but nothing in his eyes seemed to betray what had gone wrong.

“I… I don’t know” he confessed with a sheer voice “I simply bit him and then… he screamed and cried… then the blood came from his neck. I tried to… heal it but he would push me and kick me”

Doctor Botkin let out a loud sigh, pressing his nose bridge underneath his spectacles. Not only did he feel bad for the Czarina on a professional level as his doctor, but he just couldn’t imagine what the poor boy was going through as a fellow Omega.

“Your Highness, if by that you mean you laid your mark on him without mating, then you have made a terrible mistake”

“What?”

They had to move to a contiguous room when three maids knocked at the door. Having the Czar sit down, doctor Botkin proceeded to explain how the raw biting of an Alpha was too harsh and painful for any Omega and the reason mating had to be done first was so, distracted by the pleasure, the Omega would feel a lessened sensation of the biting by his numb body and clouded mind. Physically and mentally, a raw bite was no different from the attack of a wild animal, thus leaving it burning, swollen and in a sickly red color.

“In simpler words,” the doctor concluded “it is no different than a form of rape for an Omega”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello after a very long vacation! Sorry this is late but I really wanted to enjoy the holidays in my hometown far away from college so in compensation here is a very angsty and very long chapter I hope you'll like.  
I will also post soon an update to my Neolithic/Time travel au "The Sweet Song of Time" so wait for it!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> W A R N I N G: gaslighting, mention of past mental disorder for OC, racism.

Yuuri woke up with his eyes feeling tight, his neck burning and his body too weak to respond his wake-up command.

“Your highness,” the voice of a man called next to him “you should eat something”

Just when he was about to flinch in fright to the presence of someone unknown, the sweet scent of an omega and the promising smell of a warm bowl of oats with honey prompted him to ease down his nervous self.

“Your Highness, can you sit? Would you let me help you?”

“Please” his voice came out as a weakened croak as if a child had spent a long time crying

A gentle hand slid beneath his back and helped him to slowly sit on his bed, pausing each time he grumbled in pain until he was laying over a small pile of pillows. Only then did he explore his surroundings: a room with much less décor than the rooms the Rodinians had been hosting him at, only a few sacred paintings over the walls, a large heating stove and piles of dusty books which didn’t quite seem to fit there.

“What happened?” he asked as he didn’t remember anything other than the daze of his wedding reception in the ballroom.

The man sitting next to him had a kind but concerned face, his eyes hiding behind a pair of spectacles like the ones he usually wore and a fluffy moustache matching to an abundant beard. He sighed and prompted a spoonful of porridge inside his mouth.

“Last night, the Czar marked you as his, but he did so without the proper preparation” he offered Yuuri a glass of warm tea with a slight medicinal smell “The wound on your neck… I have only read about it since these cases are quite rare and often not spoken of”

“You mean he didn’t… touch me?”

A nod as any answer before handing him another spoonful of porridge, followed by another and another until the bowl was empty. The man, who Yuuri assumed was the Palace’s doctor left the medicinal tea on the nightstand for him to drink when it wasn’t boiling any more.

“Please take the bandages off, your Highness” the doctor grabbed a small glass bottle from the nightstand “I hope you can forgive our daring to cut your hair, but it was complicated to proceed with the healing otherwise”

Until then, Yuuri hadn’t noticed how light his head felt and the fact his neck was covered in smooth bandages. He didn’t really mind his hair being so short, nor did he mind the burning sensation left behind by the medicines, neither did he mind the stickiness he felt afterwards with the bandages.

His now-husband had bitten him without any ceremony, only confirming what he had understood would be his marriage to the Rodinian Czar: he was needed, but not wanted.

Doctor Botkin, as the man had introduced himself, told Yuuri either him or his apprentice, Vasilisa, would visit him thrice a day for applying the medicines and changing his bandages during a month. He would be drinking the medicinal tea through the entire day to keep the pain at bay and during the first week, he was to rest to give his body time to recover and his mind time enough to process it all.

“As for Czar Viktor” the mere mention of that name made his eyes widen “You do not need to worry; I have told him that unless it is strictly necessary, your public appearances as the Royal Couple have to be postponed”

“What about my family?” he wondered with a hint of worry in his tone

Despite what the doctor had said about the entire matter being a completely confidential affair within the most reliable personnel at the palace, his parents would surely be disturbed if the news reached them. Not to mention his sister would go into a rampage and, just as she had threatened him before, walk into the Yamato embassy and not leave until they annulled the treaty which had her baby brother bound to the Czar.

“They haven’t been notified of this, and will not unless your Highness decides otherwise…”

Yuuri didn’t even let him finish the sentence before interrupting with a blunt ‘No’. The doctor seemed to be prepared to receive such an answer and nodded before suggesting the usage of tinted oils to hide the burnt redness on his skin and perfumed wax to hide away the distressed scent in case the Czarina was to meet with his family.

“The medicine we have given you is quite strong for the meantime” the doctor noted, giving his weak pulse a check “We will lower the dose as the days go by, in tune with the pain. Still, it will surely make his Highness go sleepy”

The Yamato nodded with his eyes heavy with sleep, as if invoked by the man next to him. Yet, he was prompted to eat a couple more of spoonfuls before being left alone in the room. Curiously enough, now that he knew he had a viable excuse not to see his husband’s face for quite a while, he felt the most relaxed he had felt in ages.

Nobody would ask for them to appear in public, there was no need to talk with each other, the troublesome part of marriage had already passed…

He drifted away in a comfortable sleep.

* * *

On the contrary, the Czar was feeling the worst he had during his whole life.

No amount of words in any of the infinite languages of the whole wide world would be enough to express to his husband how utterly sorry he was for having marked him in such a violent way, for hurting him and for ruining their marriage from the very beginning.

As soon as the sun had peeked through the windows of the Petrograd Palace, nurse Vasilisa came to his room with a quickly written letter by doctor Botkin who was still tending to the Czarina’s injury at a faraway room. On the paper, the doctor had told the Czar he didn’t consider a good idea for the Royal Couple to make public appearances any time soon since it was most likely the Czarina would develop an aversion to his husband after what had happened and they didn’t need the entirety of Rodinia gossiping on those affairs.

However, meetings in the palace weren’t exactly recommended either. Actually, if they could be as far away from each other as physically possible most of the time, that would be great.

Viktor sighed, tightly pressing the bridge of his nose.

He knew he had done wrong. He wasn’t running away from that responsibility for a single second and he really wanted to do his best to solve things between his husband and him, perhaps not to become that perfect couple he had envisioned all the way towards their wedding but at the very least have a friendly relationship with the person he was to spend his life with. And he didn’t see much opportunity of bettering their situation if things were going to be like that.

“Deduchka was right” he mumbled low while finally standing up from his bed.

He hadn’t slept at all, instead sitting at the edge the entire night while waiting for the doctor or his assistant to step through the door with news from his spouse. Now that he knew they wouldn’t be seeing each other until further notice, he just didn’t find much to do in his room anymore.

A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts and made his heart leap in hope.

“Your Majesty? I bring Makkachin from the Fifth Door” it was a guard’s voice he recognized as part of the ones who had tended the mess he had done the previous night.

“Come in”

Normally, his beloved Makkachin would stay with him during night-time, comfortably sleeping on a fluffy couch close to the feet of his own bed. However, she had been left under the care of Lady Baranovskaya to give the royal couple more privacy. Yet, instead of a maid taking the royal dog back, it had to be one of the few witnesses.

The guard hadn’t even opened the door completely when a large ball of fluff came in running to the arms of her human.

“Hey there, girl” Viktor greeted with a sad smile “Were you good to Lilia? I wonder if it would have been better to have you around last night”

He had always thought Makkachin was so much more intelligent than what the court gave her credit for: as soon as he dropped those words, she started to gently lick his face in a reassuring manner before which Viktor couldn’t help to finally crumble down.

“Makka… I ruined everything!"

His faithful dog’s whimpers got mixed and lost in the deafness of his own cries. He was a monster and there was no way to deny it.

He lifted up his sight and he let it wonder through the room he had been preparing for months already for the arrival of his now husband: there were all of the books he had heard Yuuri enjoyed, a drawing table and enough paint tubes to turn the Volga into a liquid rainbow, meters of silk fabric and thread in all the colors a Czar could get and beautifully simple ikebana flower arrangements which had substituted the pompous and extravagant flower vases which were the norm at the Rodinian palace.

Of course, he had also built a large wardrobe full to the brim with beautiful silk and fine Egyptian linen clothes for the summer and warm cashmere wool sweaters and mink coats for the winter as well as an elegant wooden box containing traditional Yamato tea brews since he had feared his own country’s were too dull for someone coming from a kingdom which had its own complex tea ceremony.

All of it now would stay still to collect dust instead of being enjoyed as it was meant… No. Stop.

Viktor forced his tears to stop on its tracks and his breath to ease down. What on Earth was he doing? He was wailing as if the one having his neck burning in ache was him and not Yuuri. He wasn’t the victim, he was the offender. It was his responsibility and he was going to make things right.

When he stood up, he was not teary Viktor anymore, but the cold Czar Viktor of Rodinia. He rang a bell, and, in a few seconds, a young woman knocked at his door.

“His Highness called?” she asked from behind the white wood, he recognized her voice as one of the maids who had helped clean up his mess.

“Yes, come in” he turned to the window to avoid the maid from looking “Ask for help to move those books to the Czarina’s rooms along the painting and sewing furniture in the drawing room. If there is no space for those, move them to the closest living room”

“Yes, Your Highness. Do we move the fabric boxes as well?”

“Everything! Move his daily clothes as well, to another room if necessary”

The entire morning, soldiers came and go from the Czar’s rooms holding boxes and teaming up to hold the heavier furniture. The last thing to get to the Czarina were his set of paints, however, Viktor had something to do first.

“Where are my ink and paper?”

* * *

“Good morning, doctor Botkin.” Lady Baranovskaya quickly poured the man a cup of tea when he sat in front of her desk “Good news regarding the Czarina, I hope?”

Much to the palace’s housekeeper, the doctor let out a tired sigh and denied with his head before proceeding to explain the woman the treatments he had done on the Czarina the previous hellish night and the sad morning which followed.

In Lilia’s eyes, Botkin had always been a little too sensitive for someone so immersed in the field of medicine. They had begun to serve the Imperial family about the same time and age and while her line of work required nerves of steel to withstand the pressure of the Petrograd palace and a cold head to make decisions such as firing unskilled people, she could see a much more empathic side on her colleague who would sometimes even use his empathy to efficiently treat his patients.

Still, being an Omega treating another Omega in _those_ circumstances must have been hard.

“If I am being honest, milady, you should postpone so long as it is possible any public appearance requiring both of them” the doctor mumbled while he played absent mindedly with his sugar spoon “I don’t really suggest the couple meeting at all if possible for now. Worst case scenario, we will have another Sasha in the palace”

The last phrase managed to sent chills down Lilia’s spine and almost made her shake the teacup in her hand slightly.

Nowadays, most of the general personnel in the palace were young people around Viktor’s age, people to whom the passing of the war did leave a permanent mark in their young minds but was also nothing but a blur of emotions rather than facts. Yet, a few others remembered how soon after the beginning of the war and after knowing the horrors of it, Prince Sasha’s mind crumbled down like a sandcastle before a storm.

From being a sunny, romantic and cheerful young prince who had being raised in what had probably been a golden age of peace not only for the empire but for the world, deeply in love with his wife and already planning how to take care of his future child as well as his people to suddenly turn into a walking paranoia-driven nerve bundle who would command inexistent armies into a certain doom and was deranged enough to ride a train to the front lines.

If she thought a little about it, Yuuri was probably the best blank canvas to create another Prince Sasha. And nobody wanted nor needed thar, nor Rodinia, nor Viktor, nor their relationship with Yamato, nor her poor self.

“Very well, I will move any near meetings or appearances” she actually wrote a quick note to her side to notify the ministers as well “But I suppose this doesn’t apply for the departure of the Yamato?”

“The Czarina did mention he doesn’t want this incident to be mentioned to his family and I would like to respect this decision, especially regarding Crown Princess Mari…”

“Ah, that little trouble-maker”

Had it not been for that Yamato brat always meddling in the alliance negotiations and dragging back her grandmother and then her mother, this marriage could have even happened when Czar Nikolas was still alive.

“Er, yes” the doctor continued “I believe it’s most prude to resect that decision. However, I believe Countess Babicheva has made an acquaintance of him so perhaps we could have a closer entourage from our side so the couple wouldn’t necessarily be alone?”

It was not a bad idea; Lilia took another note for planning again the departure of the other entourage. Well, it was not like her work was anything calm.

“Also, milady” Borkin interrupted her writing. She nodded for him to speak “The Czarina’s recuperation would definitely be faster if he ate plenty, so I thought it would be better if the chefs cooked something he is more familiar with. Food from his country”

“Ah, sure, why not? It’s good to avoid waste” she rang a bell twice to make a maid enter her office.

She made Botkin repeat her last sentences for her to deliver the message to the kitchens. Not having anymore things to discuss with her, the doctor took her leave along the maid.

It seemed she had been right once again, even if Czar Nikolas wasn’t there to acknowledge it: she had tried to persuade him off the marriage of the prince and the Yamato during the very first years of making the marriage agreement. Right, they needed to build up their relationship with the Empire of isles but she seriously considered there were better ways to do it than marrying off their little prince to the child of who not so long ago were their sworn enemies.

There were much more suitable options for a consort amongst the royals of Western Laurasia, even a noble from one of the Khanates would be better match in culture, language and social traditions. The Yamato were too unnecessarily ceremonial for too many things and a pain to plan for as she would find with experience. Still, both grandfather and later grandson seemed to have a fixation with that Omega.

Lilia let out a sigh. At least she hoped that Yuuri child snapped quickly out of that supposed ‘sickness’ and gave Rodinia an heir as soon as possible.

Their relations with some of the farthest nations of the West weren’t looking so bright as of lately, especially with that fake emperor of Galia who, much to her disgust, seemed too much of a dumb military was too who only longed to disturb peace.

Indeed, it was best to be prepared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will confess I had a block and too many doubts for writing that last POV with Lilia, but in my field of study I meet far too many people who think the way she does (without considering the human element) with negotiations and finally thought it would be a good idea to represent it a little further with her character.  
Basically this entire work is a way of treating my inner Geopolitics and History nerd ;)
> 
> Well, I'm truly making an effort for hating my laptop's screen a little less so I can do some writing besides my papers and proyects. Actually, if you follow my other YoI fic, The Sweet Song of Time, I will be uploading the next chapter this weekend. It will also do you well to read it if you wanto to see a much more gentle character for Lilia than the one I will present here...
> 
> Hope all of you are safe!  
*bows*


	5. Chapter 5

When Yuuri woke up from his nap, his first thought was how it seemed the room the doctor had assigned him was suddenly more cramped.

“Good evening, Your Majesty” a feminine voice called next to him “Would you like to have something to eat?”

Amongst his fuzzy memories from the previous night’s chaos in the royal bedroom., he recalled the gentle features of the girl while the white starched coat uniform gave the rest away. She was either a nurse or the doctor’s assistant.

“Ah, yes please”

Next to his bed, there was a thick rope connected to a little bell which the nurse rang thrice, a maid magically appearing from behind the door. The nurse called for the Czarina’s lunch and in the time, it took Yuuri to sit on his bed, the maid was back with a tray of covered plates which smelled curiously familiar. Too familiar.

“Doctor Botkin requires you to eat plenty so we can be sure the medicine will not cause Your Highness any stomach problems” the nurse explained “So please finish these if possible”

When the maid lifted the covers from the plates, Yuuri felt his heart warm and his eyes wide in shock.

Before him was a delicious Yamato meal presenting a large bowl of steaming udon noodles swimming in beef stew and decorated with onion and fish cake, a small plate of tempura fried shrimps and freshly made onigiri topped with flowing katsuobushi flakes. Of course, his sweet tooth would also be pleased as the maid revealed a few balls of mochi along jasmine tea. This was almost exactly the same lunch he would eat back at the Hasetsu Palace.

“_Itadakimasu_” he mumbled with a slight smile before he began to eat.

Ah, it was good. It tasted like home.

The nurse returned to her little jars and powders in a little desk he didn’t remember being so clean and empty: weren’t there a whole lot of books there just a few hours ago? Meh, he had some more important things to focus on, like how good and warm the udon was.

His focus did not last too long though, not when a desperate knock came from the bedroom’s door. The nurse hurried to open and move aside, basically sticking herself to the wall to let a pair of guards in who were carefully carrying an elegantly carved chest in their arms. When they realized the Czarina was awake and eating, they made a small bow with their head.

“Your Imperial Highness” they greeted in unison. Yuuri responded with a light bow of his own before his neck reminded him why he was being medically tended.

“Your Majesty should be more careful with how he treats his wounds” the nurse scolded, running at his side to check on his wound. She began applying some of the solutions she had been playing with, making Yuuri’s neck feel cold, while directing the guards “No, not there please! I need access to that closet”

The guards nodded and moved the chest anew, this time sticking it to a wall nearby to the window. Before leaving, they announced Yuuri a maid would come daily to change the contents of the chest, to which Yuuri mumbled a faint ‘thank you’ as they left.

“What did they mean by that? Ah!” Yuuri flinched when the nurse covered his wounds with a light bandage

“Forgive me, Your Highness” she apologized before securing the bandage in place with a clip “Doctor Botkin announced the Czar he won’t be meeting Your Highness for a while, so the Czar ordered the commodities he had prepared for Your Highness to be moved here”

“Commodities?”

As any form of response, the nurse pointed at a beautifully-carved painting desk, at the ikebana placed in his night table, at the framed ukiyo-e depicting Yamato folktales in lieu of the sacred paintings and the tea collection proudly displayed on a nearby desk. Someone had even placed a small tatami underneath a low table, creating a bizarre mix between the room’s Rodinian décor and the Yamato props around.

“These are what could fit here” she continued while opening a nearby door “Things like the fabrics and the other drawing table were moved to this other room. If Your Majesty wishes something to be switched, I can call for the guards and have it done by night…”

Invoked by the nurse’s words, someone knocked at the main door. A maid greeted and presented a box with a note attached to it, explaining it was a message from the Czar before taking her leave.

“Um” the nurse mumbled, clearly uncomfortable “I should meet with doctor Botkin right now. His consultation room is the front door of this hallway. If Your Highness needs anything, call for Vasilisa and I will come running”

Once the room was silent except for the light noise of the firewood in the interior of the stove, Yuuri picked the box and opened it before the Czar’s note. Paints and brushes, but not any kind.

These were pigments enclosed in fine porcelain containers with a beautiful set of traditional brushes which Yuuri only remembered being used by the royal painters of the Yamato court. So expensive and difficult to create that they were only commissioned by the Yamato Empress or Emperor to a single family clan from Kyoto who had been crafting those works of art all the way back from the times of Empress Murasaki.

Yuuri had always dreamed of having one of these as a child, often peeking into the study rooms of the royal painters and wishing his fifteenth birthday to arrive as soon as possible since his grandmother had promised him a set for himself. However, she had passed away before that promised could be fulfilled and his mother thought painting could be slightly less important than his classes of Rodinian etiquette.

He hurried to open the letter.

_Dearest Yuuri_

_Although I am in no position of saying this, I hope from the bottom of my heart that you are in good health._

_My behavior last night cannot be excused under any circumstance and I will not hide from the responsibility I have for it. I do not expect you to forgive me for it any time soon either, in fact, even if you never do so, I will hold no grudge against you._

_Still, I would like to do and give anything that is in my power and beyond to ensure that from this day on, your stay in Rodinia will the most pleasant one. Thus, if you need or want anything, be sure to let me know so I can fulfill your every request. You only need to write it down to me and I will be sure to grant it._

_For the meantime, and knowing you need close medical surveillance, I have made certain things to be moved to your current rooms. I hope you enjoy them fondly. Including this._

_Her Imperial Highness Empress Suiko, may God have her in His Glory, once mentioned your utter fascination for this during one of her visits and told me you would receive your own set crafted by the Hirawa family when you turned fifteen. I am unaware if it was gifted to you before her passing but I wanted it to give this to you as a wedding gift, now turned apology._

_I hope it can symbolize a new beginning as does the white canvas you transform into a work of art._

_Yours,_

_Viktor_

In all honesty, he did not know what to make of it. Yuuri sighed and folded the note, placing it inside the box.

He had once asked his grandmother the Empress during one of their usual playdates at the gardens of the Haestsu palace, way before their first meeting, if Czarevich Viktor would be like the valiant and intelligent heroes he read about in his illustrated books and live a romantic love story with him.

“Yuu-chan, those books are often written by people who are not like us” she had replied with some sort of sad smile he didn’t quite understand at that age “Normally, people like us cannot expect a romance but a good friendship”

“But Okaa-san and Otou-san are like the books” he had replied, confused by his grandmother’s cryptic answer

Tenderly, she had picked him up and placed him on her silk-covered lap while she kissed his hair.

“They are a happy exception” she had agreed “Believe me, if you can have a friend in your husband, you will have won”

Hm. Yuuri had been taught to respect and obey the order of his elders, especially since his elders meant the Empress, but he also wasn’t sure of how friendship was supposed to be achieved with someone who only saw him as a human after the mess.

Truth be told, he would be spending the rest of his life in Rodinia unless Mari stormed into the embassy and destroyed the relationships between both empires. But that wasn’t a good deal for either country, so he might as well make himself useful to the Yamato Chrysanthemum Crown and do a good job as a consort by becoming sort of a friend to his husband.

Just when he thought he would have a calm day for once, these Rodinians came in and gave him a migraine.

Yuuri rang the bell by his bed and asked the maid for a brush and ink. His note was nothing of a fancy ordeal, more pragmatic than anything and out of mere courtesy. A mere ‘thank you’ as well as some lines stating he would write if he needed anything.

* * *

Crown Princess Mari’s nose had turned into a red pointy bulb by the final day of her visit at the Petrograd Palace.

No, it was not due to an allergy or a sudden sickness as her maids were panicking over so ridiculously. For gods’ sake, Yamato was twice if not thrice as humid as that dull ochre city in the middle of the continental land. It actually was a ridiculous problem and did not need a doctor for it. The cause was a personal affair.

She was not able to smell her brother’s scent anymore.

Mari first noticed such uncanny phenomenon when Yuuri joined her and their parents for the afternoon tea, the day following the marriage of her brother and the Czar of Rodinia. Yuuri came into the Yamato royal family rooms already dressed in the attire of a continental: white shirt, dull colored pants and shoes that looked as if someone had put cords on a coconut. His heart had been cut as well, no trace of the pretty ornamented pins he liked so much.

He looked odd in her eyes. But her mother…

“My, you look stunning!” Empress Hiroko praised her child before inviting him to sit next to her and her husband, leaving Mari by the farthest side which would usually be Yuuri’s. with the marriage, her little brother was basically the same status as her parents.

The slightly sour matcha scent flooded the room once the tea ceremony began by the Beta Tea Master they had brought along from home, but during the entire time, Crown Princess Mari was unsuccessfully trying to distinguish even the smallest and weakest trace of her brother’s smell.

The absence of it bothered her greatly.

She had known from an early age there would come a time when Yuuri would cease to belong to the Yamato Royal Family anymore, by law at least. And that teeth mark on the base of his neck was all the proof she needed to realize that time had already come.

After the tea was over, the Yamato Empress and Emperor had left their children alone in their rooms while they made their way to the Czar’s office where their signature would definitely secure the alliance between both empires. A debt to fulfill in other words, Mari bitterly thought.

“You look tired” she appointed her brother who was all too quiet

“Ah, sorry. I am, to be honest” he admitted, quickly filling his mouth with one of the sweets they had placed for the siblings

Mari simply replied with a dry ‘Hmm’.

“He made me a gift” Yuuri mumbled “A Hirawa painting set”

Mari almost choked on the mochi she was chewing, and not exactly due to the stickiness of the sweet.

“How…?”

“Grandmother”

Ack, of course. Grandmother Asuko had spent the last years of her long life feeding information to the Rodinian court on the likes and joys of her youngest grandchild, it was evident something like Yuuri’s fondness of Yamato traditional painting would be of public knowledge in that damn palace. At the same time, her thoughts diverted in a different direction: could such a magnificent gift be the result of a wrong deed?

“Your night with the Czar?” she bluntly asked

Now it was her brother’s turn to choke on mochi.

“Um, a little strange I suppose” he mumbled once his coughs eased down slightly “Not exactly… pleasurable…. but, I guess that only happens during a heat-agh! Can we change the subject please?”

“Right, sorry” she poured him a cup of jasmine tea

It really was not her place to stick her nose into and she knew it. But her protective instincts had lit up the moment she realized she couldn’t discern her brother’s emotions by her scent anymore, she was an Alpha protecting a cherished family Omega at the end of the day, despite said Omega being marked already.

Still, despite not finding any signs of wrongness in what had happened during the Wedding Night other than what she considered to be a natural embarrassment on the subject, her most primitive instincts would not let her alone for the rest of that week in Rodinia.

Whether it be at the dinners held at the Petrograd Palace, while watching an opera performance at the theater, sitting underneath the faint and sickly Rodinian sun at the Petrograd palace garden or even hearing the Czar’s youngest cousin sing along a pianoforte at the music hall: hiding behind a painted paper fan, the Yamato Crown Princess would be forcing her nose to search for Yuuri.

It was frustrating, really.

Her brother was sitting right next to her and it was as if he was three miles away!

It was natural that by the end of the Yamato official visit, her nose had turned into a really red and swollen bulb.

“Just cover it with more powders” she hurried her maids who were about to go fetch the physician “We are about to leave, and I don’t want to cause a ruckus!”

Tiny specs of rice floated in the air before her brother came into her rooms, accompanied by a girl Mari had assumed already was a maid assigned by the Czar to her brother given how much of a shadow she had become: a figure dressed in white with her hair tightly pulled into a knot who was always standing right next to Yuuri with a bored face.

“Do you mind leaving us alone for a moment, Vasilisa?” Yuuri spoke to his maid, making her and her sister’s ladies to leave the room quietly.

The second the door was shut closed, both siblings ran to each other’s arms.

Crown Princess Mari was often nick named as the _Hagane Tsubaki_, their crown princess as beautiful and elegant as a camellia who owned a gaze and a temper as strong as still, unwavering to the difficulties of life. Everything a proper Empress needed to be.

And yet, there she was choking back her tears while tightly holding her baby brother.

She knew that if she wished so, she could perfectly call for a boat and a train to take her all the way from Hasetsu to visit her brother any time she wanted. But it just would not be the same anymore.

He now was the Czarina of the Rodinian Empire and not the Second Prince of the Yamato Empire, his home would become that ridiculously ornamented palace, instead of spending summers painting the Yakushima mountains he would be enclosed in an Odessa manor which would be merely switched by a fancy dacha instead of his beloved open-air _onsen_ or the mountain hikes at Hokkaido.

Her baby brother had definitely left the nest.

* * *

A scum so low it wasn’t even useful as bait.

A filthy piece of shit.

A disgusting pig,

An asshole.

Those were words one would usually not find in the mouth of a Grand Duchess such as Mila Babicheva of House Nikiforov.

However, Mila was quite fond of escaping the court the same way his cousin did. And contrary to him, she didn’t see much fun in hanging on at a bar when she could go to the decks and watch the ships stroll by the bay, hear the seagulls cry and the sailors curse. And she had always been a quick learner.

Much to her cousin’s current dismay.

“One day! One day and the marriage you so happily bragged about is gone! I’d love to hear your fucking excuse as to why!” her fingers were shaking in anger as she pointed him, her bright blue eyes would pop off their sockets any second “I know why… because you just couldn’t think with the head you have on your fucking shoulders!”

“Mila, please…” Viktor sighed heavily

“Please my ass!”

They were lucky the private office of the Czar did live up to its title.

Mila dropped herself on the chair her cousin had offered, in the most reluctant and un-lady-like manner she could. Lilia had knocked her door when she had not changed from her sleeping gown yet to tell her to get into the Czar’s office as soon as possible on the last day of the Yamato royal family’s visit.

The previous week had been a hectic one: all full of visits to the most important and beautiful places inside and out the palace to the new Czarina and his family. And a perfect opportunity to bond with her new cousin-in-law whenever that wolf-eyed sister of him allowed so.

Yuuri was such a sweet! Such an intelligent man who could appreciate art, so much wiser in difficult matters than the bunch of ministers her cousin and her often had to meet with yet so pragmatical and down to Earth… he was some absolute Czarina material!

And then his cousin came to confess the absolute fuckery he had committed. Tch.

The History books might as well speak about a Czar who had been slapped to death by his Duchess cousin. Maybe it would prevent stupid Alphas from stupid doings in the future.

“What in hell do you want?”

“You seem to be quite close to him” his cousin tested the waters “unlike me, he feels comfortable with your presence. The farewell is supposed to be kind of a private affair, but Lilia and I have been making a slightly larger committee on our part and…”

“And you don’t have the balls to go and face your problems on your own, that it?”

Her cousin nodded, evidently making an effort to gaze at her.

Mila picked up herself straight as a stick and made her way to the door, not minding if there was someone out there in the hall who would see her angry corset-less-self stomping outside the office. Still, she gave her cousin one last pitiful glance from the doorframe.

“I’m doing it for him and not for your sorry ass”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I didn't remember to upload this message to this story but my illness got a re-spike and I wasn't in the best of conditions for writing, hence why I took so long to upload.  
Now that I'm doing a little bit better, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The last traces of sunlight were soothing underneath the trees of the palace gardens, so much more beautiful in Yuuri’s eyes than the overloaded decorations back inside.

“Your Majesty, please finish your drink” Vasilisa’s voice snapped suddenly “Once it cools down it is no good anymore”

The young Czarina complied to his nurse’s words and gulped the strong herbal drink with a very sour aftertaste coming from the spoonful of medicine Vasilisa had poured into the teapot. In normal circumstances, he would drink it reluctantly slowly while making small chat with the nurse, so the taste was not as bad in his mouth.

However, now that his family were on their way to Vladivostok and back to Yamato, he was feeling more exhausted than with all of the draining activities the Rodinian court had organized for him and his family during the previous week.

“Your Majesty, please cover your neck a little more” Vasilisa mumbled, placing the lace umbrella closer to his chair

“Ah, sorry” he removed a little closer to the shade of the lace, despite already wearing a silky hat on his head “Am I allowed to stroll by?”

“Not right now, no. It will be too cold once the sun sets” she rang a bell to the army of maids behind her back for them to bring the Czarina’s midday snack “Your Majesty will get a fever that way. Your Majesty can come back for a stroll perhaps at four o’clock tomorrow”

Yuuri let out a sigh and nodded as he began to eat his snack as slowly and ceremoniously as possible, trying to buy himself even a few small minutes before being forced to go back inside into the Palace.

During the previous week, the Czar had maintained his distance with him by constantly pairing him and Mari with Grand Duchess Mila for most of the court activities except when the Yamato siblings found themselves squished in a sort of high box along the Czar’s younger cousin. An interesting experience to say the least.

However, now that the Yamato entourage was gone and the Rodinian court had to retake their usual activities, he was not entirely sure how his routine would be like from that moment on.

The Czar had been sending him letters every single morning, asking if he had any wants or necessities he could fulfill, always with polite but distant words while Yuuri’s were always short and with negative responses. Besides from those, there had not really been much interaction between them.

“Good day, Your Highness!” a yell interrupted his train of thoughts

Just when he had been thinking about him, the young Duke Yuri appeared on top of a shiny golden horse.

“It’s _Your Majesty_, you spoiled brat!” replied a bald and heavy man on top of a black horse behind the youngster. His tutor, most likely.

“Ah, please don’t mind it” he took the interest off the matter by fanning his hand “Good day, Duke Yuri. What is the name of your horse?”

He hit the nail with his question, it seemed, as the young duke’s face instantly lit up, eyes shiny and posture uptight with pride.

“Khan Zolotoy!” he presented the horse “He is not Rodinian, you know, he comes from the Kaza Khanate. My cousin gifted him to me for my fifteenth birthday, he is a _khal-teke_, he is very rare anywhere else in the world because they are mostly wild, but this was groomed for me! He said he was friends with the horse of the next Khan…”

Yuuri could not help but nod absently while he fixed his gaze on the beautiful horse before him. Khan Zolotoy’s short fur seemed to be coated with gold powder which reflected the sun to the point of been blinding if one stared for too long.

“He looks as if he comes from a fairytale” Yuuri smiled while offering Khan Zolotoy one of his anko breads to eat “_Hai, kochi_”

“Wait, Your Majesty…!” the young duke’s tutor called, clashing onto the ground when he tried to desperately get off his own horse

Yuuri didn’t really understand the gesture: he was just feeding the pretty horse in front of him who seemed to enjoy greatly the sweet taste of his snack. Vasilisa and his maids let out an acute shriek at his back, even the young Duke had a shocked expression on his face.

“Ah, forgive me” perhaps the magical horse had a special diet he was not aware of?

“How did you do that?!” the young duke demanded immediately

It turned out to be that as magical Khan Zolotoy looked, he had been a pain to train for his breeders back in the Khaza Khanate and his attitude had not exactly made a significant improvement while in the Peterhof palace, being constantly feared by the barn boys who would get their hands bitten and the garden maids who would get his hooves imprinted on their immaculate white skirts.

The young Czarina was the first and only one who had come out unharmed from an encounter with the feared Khan Zolotoy.

“Will you…r Majesty come along with me tomorrow for a ride?” Duke Yuri asked before biding goodbye

“If the young Duke has no plans for the afternoon, I will be glad to accompany you” Yuuri smiled back

* * *

Viktor had spent a good portion of the previous week thinking how to solve a very specific situation his husband and him would have to face once his now political family were not in the Peterhof palace anymore: how would the hour of dinner be?

Breakfast could be easily served at his husband’s bedroom as well as his lunch, his snack and tea would take place outside in the gardens so he could have a sun bath by recommendation of Doctor Botkin. But dinner had to be taken together.

_How do you expect to bond with him if you are always separate?_ Lady Baranovskaya questioned him when he tried to organize his husband’s meals as a private affair. _You still have to appear as the imperial couple in public, after all._

Despite his and Botkin’s efforts on trying to convince the palace’s housekeeper perhaps the Czarina wasn’t in good condition yet to be in the same room as his husband, Lilia did have a point: there were less than fifteen people who knew the current situation between the imperial couple, including his cousin Mila, but for the rest of the palace, the city of Petrograd and the entirety of Rodinia and Yamato, they were married and had a diplomatic role to fulfill. Gossip could easily begin to rise if they were far too obvious about it.

_Sure,_ Lilia had said, _being in the gardens with the excuse that he is used to warmer weather is passable. So is that he has other activities within the palace with other people who are not the Czar: it is his new residence full of new people after all. But not wanting to change guards and maids and having the nurse follow him like a shadow? Even a barn boy would find it unsettling. _

As a result, Botkin delivered a letter that evening to the Czarina’s rooms, inviting him to have dinner at the Czar’s rooms. And, despite also writing he had the possibility of declining, Yuuri had accepted.

“Is Your Majesty sure he wants to have this? The taster asked me to tell Your Majesty this is quite spicy” the maid asked when she uncovered the Yamato dishes “The cooks can still cook a complete dinner for Your Majesty if he wishes”

Viktor denied with a wave of his hand and the maid took her leave along her fellow partners. They had served a beautiful set of bowls with colorful dishes consisting of vegetables, plenty of fish, fragrant rice, noodles with broth and delicately plump sweets. He could not really see what in there could be spicy.

It all seemed like just a regular meal between two people except for the folding screen between the two tables.

Initially, the rice paper screen painted with an exuberant winter scenery with a pair of red-crowned-cranes dancing had been part of the wedding gifts he had prepared for his Czarina and the only piece of the bundle which he had not been able to fit at his spouse’s new rooms.

A delicate, flickering scent announced his husband’s arrival before Vasilisa knocked at his door.

“Your Majesty, His Majesty the Czarina is here” the nurse announced from the outside

Like a child caught in the middle of a mischief, Viktor ran to sit on his chair behind the cranes before answering ‘Come in’ with the calmest voice he could manage.

A ‘click’ from the door and the scent only got slightly less faint when his husband entered the room.

“Good evening, Your Majesty” Yuuri greeted with an almost unnerving neutral voice tone “Ah”

“Good evening” he stood up, making sure his chair made a little bit of noise “Is anything wrong?”

“Not at all, I just… had not seen the screen. It is really beautiful”

He heard the opposite chair slide open as his husband took a seat on the other table. Through the gap between the floor and the wooden frame, Yuuri’s feet and the lower part of his pants were visible. Viktor had been wondering why, ever since the day following their marriage, Yuuri had stopped wearing the traditional Yamato split socks and wooden sandals and his vivid-colored kimonos had been switched in favor of dress pants and frilly shirts in dull tones.

“Um- do you mind if I say the prayer?” Viktor asked. His spouse mumbled a low assent and he began “Beloved Almighty Father who is in Heaven, we thank you for our fertile lands and the hard work of our people who allow us to have the dishes before us as proof of your infinite benevolence. We dare to ask your favor for those in need who cannot enjoy your Blessings in the same amount as we do. May the Holy Spirit bless us with the wisdom to grant the same mercifulness to our people as the protector of your Will on this Earth. Amen”

“Amen” Yuuri repeated before mumbling a faint “_Itadakimasu_”

“What?”

“Em… it’s a Yamato gratitude for food. If it bothers Your Majesty, I will not mention it anymore”

Through the sheer screen, Viktor could perfectly see in his husband’s silhouette how his posture flinched in tension when he appointed the foreign words. He needed to correct that immediately.

“Perhaps, we could pray like that tomorrow. If Yuuri wants”

The silhouette behind the screen seemed to sigh and deflate slightly with relief.

“Thank you, Your Majesty”

Thus, the meal began quietly. Truth be told, he was not very familiarized with the meal rituals the Yamato had, nor the order in which the dishes before him had to be eaten. As a result he began with what promised him a little bit of warmth.

It was actually really tasty!

“This is really good! What is it called?”

Oh, the screen. Right.

“Is Your Majesty having Yamato food as well?” Yuuri replied on the other side “Which dish is Your Majesty having right now?”

“Noodles, they are really good in my modest opinion on the matter” Viktor laughed lightly at himself.

“They are really tasty indeed, these are _udon_ with _miso_ broth. A type of soy and sea salt condiment”

For the entire duration of the meal, Viktor would interrupt the silence to ask about one of the dishes in front of him, getting quite surprised at the complex elaboration of each of them as it seemed not only each ingredient had a millenary history to it but also a manufacture which seemed more of a ritual than what he considered to be a normal production.

“Oh, Yuuri, I have been curious to ask, have the meals been to your taste?” Viktor wondered to the painted screen in front of him “Are they good enough in taste and quantity?”

Every second his spouse took before answering shook his nerves to the core.

“They have, thank you very much” his husband replied, allowing the Czar to breathe with a little more relief.

“Really? Thank God. I asked for a Yamato cook to come to the palace to tend your meals here but I wasn’t sure if they were even a match to what you have at Hasetsu” Viktor confessed “Oh, speaking of, how do you feel with Vasilisa around?”

Unlike his parents, Viktor wasn’t the kind of person to get easily ill so his close encounters with Doctor Botkin were actually very few and he was slightly more likely to speak with his assistant nurse, and he knew she was not an easy person. Perhaps it was the fact she was a Beta in such a pressuring environment such as the Rodinian Royal Court or that she was aiming for such a demanding career such as medicine but she wasn’t exactly a gentle and overly polite person.

Definitely not fit for the Czarina’s personal maid.

“We have been doing fine so far” Yuuri made a little bit of noise when he let down his (ridiculously small, in Viktor’s opinion) teacup over the small plate “She is actually a lot nicer than the palace nurses at Yamato”

Viktor almost spit out his jasmine tea but limited himself to coughing when he remembered one of Yuuri’s delicate gifts was in front of him. Did the Yamato nurses go through the army before their medical service if Vasilisa could be considered nice?

“Um, you see” the Czar began again once he had regained a little bit of his composure back “the Yamato cook we hired is married to a woman who has worked as a maid at the Sapporo Palace and, well…I was wondering if perhaps you would like her to be at your service?”

Silence.

Was it such a terrible idea to appoint miss Nishigori as Yuuri’s personal maid? Did he not have a personal maid back at Yamato? No, he did have one, Lilia and him had researched on it. Maybe he wanted a Rodinian maid? No, it should have been the thing with the Sapporo Palace: he should have hired a maid who had worked at Hasetsu instead of the palace of some northern noble Yuuri perhaps did not even remember the name of.

“O-of course!” Viktor mumbled in nervousness “If you don’t wish to, I can obviously appoint a Rodinian to your service or maybe you wish for a maid from Hasetsu? I will send a letter to Yamato immediately!”

He was already standing up and moving towards the service bell when a ‘Wait!’ halted him midway.

“I- I would be delighted to have her in my service” Yuuri assured him, returning Viktor’s soul back to his body.

“Oh, I will be glad to send her to you as soon as possible!” Viktor happily replied while sitting back down

Silence again before Yuuri let out a shy: “If our dinner is finished, may I retire back to my rooms, Your Majesty?”

“Ah, of course”

“Thank you for the meal. _Gochisou sama deshita_”

With those words, Yuuri rang the service bell twice, making Vasilisa enter the door after bowing in greeting. The pair bid goodbye to the Czar and exited the room in silence. Out of curiosity, Viktor didn’t immediately call for the maids to take the plates away and checked the other side of the screen, a wide smile appearing on his face.

Yuuri had eaten it all.


	7. Chapter 7

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

No worries, this should be fine. It would be just another day in the daily life of a palace maid…no.

She was serving Second Prince Yuuri now turned into Czarina of the Rodinian Empire! She! After serving a minor Lord in a lost military castle up in the North of Yamato, she would be serving the consort ruler of the Rodinian Empire!

Yuuko had woken up one hour before she would usually just to make sure her hairdo and uniform were absolutely and perfectly impeccable for her first day on service to the Czarina, dragging her husband to the kitchens with her because the sooner they had the Czarina’s breakfast the better.

She emptied her lungs, trying to let go of her nerves while she did, and gave the clock on the wall one last quick glance. 7:40 in the morning. Just in time.

The maid opened the room’s door while pushing the small tray cart carefully. Uh, well, this was a much smaller room than she would have assigned someone in the rank of Czarina, very fancy indeed, but small.

“Ara…” Yuuko gaped in awe, staring at the beautiful decorations popping here and there.

Unlike the rest of the rooms she had tended over the previous week, the Czarina’s room had plenty of Yamato props sitting around coming from ikebana on the ornament tables and ukiyo-e paintings over the walls to the beautiful kimono draped on an ikou and the pair of tessen displayed on the top of the clothes’ chest. It was a strangely endearing mixture of the Rodinian and Yamato decorations.

Her admiration was put to a halt when a bell rang softly from what had to be the bedroom.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Yuuko pushed the door open, cart before her steps.

Like everyone in Yamato, word of how delicate and beautiful the Second Prince was had reached her ears as would the commemorative paintings distributed along the archipelago for his coming of age and the photographs on the newspapers. But, in her modest opinion, she was sure the Second Prince far surpassed any of those expectations.

The Czarina looked up at her and she immediately bent herself in half in the most respectful bow she could manage.

“Good morning, Your Imperial Majesty” she croaked nervously in Yamato “This humble one’s name is Yuuko and I will have the honor of being on your service from this day on”

Some sounds of rustling fabric made her lift her gaze slightly, waiting for a command to be given. Instead, she was given a sight of the Czarina bowing back and offering a smile.

“Good morning” ah! His voice was so smooth and silky! “I am grateful you are at my service and I thank you for your work”

Yuuko deepened her bow just a little further before offering an indoor kimono to cover his sleepwear as she had been instructed the Czarina preferred taking a little time for selecting his outfit. Thank the Gods she knew how to put on a full attire properly.

“What is your name?” the Czarina asked once he was sitting in front of his steaming breakfast

“Nishigori Yuuko, Your Majesty” she made a small bow while serving the tea

“I was told you served under Lord Enomoto at the Sapporo Castle”

“That is correct, Your Majesty”

There were no more questions during the rest of the breakfast, but she honestly did not expect him to do so: his manners and etiquette were impeccable! So gracious and effortless and ethereal! One could only dream of having such poise in a whole lifetime, really

Yuuko’s endearment didn’t last much since, according to the set schedule Lady Baranovskaya had handed her three days ago, after picking up the empty dishes and placing them back in the cart to be picked by another maid, she had to get to the medical room just across the hallway and accompany the nurse.

When she had the intention of questioning the reasons, Lady Baranovskaya had gifted her with a sharp green glare which admitted no questions while also setting clear that whatever she witnessed during those medical appointments better not leave the silence of her head.

She was received by Vasilisa, the palace’s nurse she had recognized from staring at the Czarina’s entourage from afar. And just like she had imagined from the distance, she looked kind of …sour?

“Come in. Take those” the nurse pointed at a small bundle of linens and a bowl of hot water while the Rodinian picked up a ser a set of crystal jars on a tray

If Yuuko was being honest with herself, she had thought the only situations she would have to side with the medical personnel of the Peterhof palace and carry linens to the Czarina had to be when the imperial consort was either down with a fever or giving birth.

The nurse entered the Czarina’s rooms as if they were their own, barely knocking at the door to announce her presence, and locked the door as soon as both women were inside.

All of it was getting on Yuuko’s nerves.

“Good morning, Your Imperial Highness” Vasilisa greeted dryly, like she was eager to get back to her work. She turned to Yuuko “Please lower the neckline of His Highness’ garments”

Uh?!

Yuuko was a Beta and Omegas were usually very private about their relationships and bodies, more so of their necks. One wouldn’t even get to see an Omega’s neck until the day after their wedding, and even that was an extraordinary event in Yamato culture.

Still, after an approving nod of the Czarina, she approached the bed and began helping the monarch to go slightly off his clothes, her face turning the color of borscht… while she bit her tongue to suppress a shocked gasp.

Over the Czarina’s neck was the mark of an Alpha’s bite, bright red against pearly white skin. but it looked as if it had been _painful_, like it was a poisonous animal the one to leave its bite instead of a human being. The fact it was surrounded by blue bruising as if someone had punched over the already existing wound was not helping at all.

“Here. Clean it” Vasilisa passed her one of the linens already wet and smelling like soap.

Hands trembling and after mumbling a faint ‘Excuse me, Your Majesty’, she began gently rubbing around the wound, with the exact same caution she had had when bathing her newborn daughters for the first time.

“Not just around” the nurse popped out of nowhere behind her back, directly pointing at the bite mark itself “That too”

Through the entire session, Yuuko thought she was going to die about six times. She didn’t want to imagine how it was for the Czarina. The nurse applied antiseptics, herbal plasters and even perfumed waxes only to top it all with a layer of fine powders to mask the wound’s painful colors to the public. As soon as she finished, Vasilisa bowed goodbye and retired with quick pace.

Yuuko sighed to compose her face back to her service smile.

“Should I help Your Highness getting dressed?” that, at least, she knew how to do.

* * *

“You know, you’re too good to be my cousin’s husband” Yuri mumbled absent-mindedly while chewing on his pencil

After their first horse-riding date out in the gardens, Yuri had convinced his now cousin-in-law to stablish a few days per week when they could go have a stroll around the palace’s gardens. But that specific day, his mind was very off its usual course when old Yakov told him he would make him take an exam on the relationships of the Empire with its neighbors.

A subject he absolutely dreaded.

He understood the Czars of the past had pursued the unification of the Rus people since the Middle Ages but he herby believed there was absolutely no need to make their Empire _that_ large: not only did he wonder how his cousin and his Ministers managed such a logistical nightmare but also why did there have to be so many bordering countries.

Yuri had explained all that when the Czarina had noted his distressed behavior and then offered himself to help him study. His cousin had married a freaking saint really.

“I don’t think I am” the other Omega commented, eyes low “I’m not even on the same hierarchy as His Imperial Highness”

Those words made him laugh out loud, even surprising the man next to him.

“Pfft!” he almost dropped one of the maps off the table they were working on “Who the hell calls him all that? He’s Viktor at his best and the court’s jester at his worst”

“He still is the Czar” Yuuri replied simply “Hmm, this here is wrong: Czar Dmitri wasn’t the one to sign this treaty, it was his ambassador and this other treaty with the Mongolian Khanate expired three years ago”

Aha! A question less he had to worry about and something to snicker to his tutor! He grinned happily and made some notes on his papers. How come someone who had married into the family, who hadn’t grown in Rodinia or had a Rodinian upbringing had that much knowledge of Rodinia?

“With what you know, you could be a minister yourself” he commented eagerly “I mean, I’ve been to some of those meetings and those old peeps don’t know what they can and can’t do with who. You’d fit nicely in that office”

“I don’t think so” Yuuri took a sip of his teacup “I am a consort and I am not Rodinian, I do not qualify for an active role in the politics of the Empire”

Yuri stopped munching on his pencil and glared at him.

Yakov had indeed taken time to review the relationships between the Empire and the Yamato archipelago a number of times: their common history, the shared communities living in their territories, their economic and military importance for one another and other stuff he honestly didn’t remember much of. But he did recall there were three or four lessons when they touched the subject of the Yamato culture.

And perhaps, he should dig a little deeper on those themes because he just couldn’t understand how the Yamato modesty worked.

True, the figure of the Czarina wasn’t traditionally important in the court other than creating alliances through marriage like his great grandmother who had been a Sámi, married into the Imperial Family over fishing and navigation rights in the Kola peninsula. But she had also pushed for recognition of her people before the Rodinian Empire, so much she had been the one to stablish a Council for the Sámi to be represented in the parliament.

Right, maybe Yamato was kind of too far away from Petrograd, but with that full head of his, Yuuri might as well become a counselor for the Minister of External Affairs or something. His cousin could definitely use some help in that suffocating office.

“Hmmm, there is no rule against the consort taking a political stance” Yuri mumbled, making his best to make it look casual “I know that for sure. I really like my Law classes”

The Czarina responded with a small smile, almost unnoticeable at first. He still had to see a full smile in any other situation which didn’t involve the palace’s horses. But on the other hand, he would concede that a library probably wasn’t the best option.

* * *

Yuuri’s afternoons were probably the most boring time of the day at the Peterhof palace.

After having lunch at his rooms, he would either work on his paintings or read one of the books he had brought along from Yamato while he waited for dinner with his husband. Sometimes, Lady Mila would invite him for a game of cards at her rooms but that was about it.

Vasilisa and doctor Botkin had made themselves very clear on not wanting him out in the palace gardens until the weather got warmer in the summer because they feared the temperature drop would damage the skin of his neck which was still too delicate and prone to a mild frostbite due to him not being used to the Rodinian weather. As a consequence, he had also been advised against practicing his dancing, leaving his tessen to collect dust on a side of the room.

Fortunately, Yuuko was there with him.

“Koi koi” the maid called

Three flips of his own cards.

“Koi koi” Yuuri called

He had honestly not paid much attention to the entire bundle of gifts his husband had given him until a few days before when, without much to do, he decided to inspect them with Yuuko’s help. Who would have thought his husband had even gotten him games amongst all of things and that he had had the good judgement to place a fellow Yamato at his service.

“Koi koi!” Yuuko called one last time, a wide smile over her face “I win again, Your Majesty”

“A rematch?” he asked tentatively, getting an earnest nodding from the woman before him “You were not lying when you told me you were good at this”

“I’m trying to teach my girls as well” Yuuko broadened her smile and began mixing the cards once again in her hands “They need a little bit more patience though. Your cards, Your Majesty”

Right before the maid handed him hid deck, someone knocked at the Czarina’s door. Yuuko sprung off her cushion and ran to the door, interchanged a few words with whoever had knocked and came back with what looked like an empty tray.

“Letters, Your Majesty!” Yuuko announced happily, kneeling so the Czarina could take a look “From Her Imperial Majesty, Crown Princess Mari, and from His Highness, the Dookmai Somdet Chao Fa of Siam!”

Yuuri could feel a wide smile immediately coming to his lips when he heard the last phrase and didn’t bother himself with etiquette before grabbing the letter with a bright red wax seal depicting an image of gods Vishnu and Garuda.

_ My dearest friend Yuuri,_

_From the bottom of my heart, I hope you are in the utmost health and happiness in Rodinia. My little brother has been speaking nonstop about how cold the weather was in Petrograd during your wedding despite already being in the middle of the spring, leaving me worried for you. I should really begin questioning Mother to send him and Pranpriya for a few seasons to Hasetsu so they can actually enjoy the snow and cold the proper way. Gods… what are we teaching the younger generations?_

_What have you been spending your newly wed life with? Are there many amenities in the far Europa as professor Cialdini used to tell us? You are closer than ever to the great capitals of the world! You should definitely take your time to wander by their stone cities and the traces of their medieval kingdoms. _

_Here, the cherry blossoms you have gifted me are already blooming along the canals, only feeding my longing for the fun afternoons of dancing in the halls here at Chitralada. Perhaps Mother will approve of my decision of presenting cherry blossoms at the temple in your name on the next April 13th? I will ask for your good health and happiness to the Amithabba Bhuda, may the Lotus Heart grant us peace._

_Now that I speak of the upcoming celebration, I would love to have adored to have here for the New Year, but I know perhaps you won’t be able to leave the royal life so soon. As a result, I will make sure to send you a blessed Nirmala along with MY set of wedding gifts to you._

_At this point of my letter, I would hope you are not thinking we are done with the surprises and gifts yet since I have asked (and of course been nagging nonstop) my ambassadors to arrange a visit to Rodinia! Which excuse are they using? I could make them use the daily sunrise for all I care if by doing so I can meet with my best friend, take that for sure!_

_May my arms travel through the infinite white of Sibirsk and reach you with a tight embrace along my best wishes. We will meet soon, my friend!_

_Phichit Chulantnot_

Yuuri couldn’t help but to let out a happy yelp, startling his maid.

“Good news I presume, Your Majesty?” Yuuko ventured

“The _best_ news, Yuuko!” Yuuri stood up like a spring and made his quick steps towards the door “Is the Czar in his office? Good, come with me please!”

* * *

Ugh.

Viktor’s latest meetings with his ministers had been stressful and worrying to say the least: his ministers of economy were really insistent on how necessary it was reinforcing their ties with the kingdoms in Western Europa with the worrying power growth that false Emperor in Galia, the Joseon Kingdom had severed several commercial treaties after his wedding with Yuuri because their Alpha prince had made an engagement proposal to the Yamato and a few insurgencies in their border with the Finnish.

On his personal front, things were not great either.

Lilia had begun nagging him and the council on the need of an engagement for young Duke Yuri, almost giving Uncle Nikolai a heart attack and, as if the royal housekeeper just wanted to make his day worse, began complaining how unprofessional the maid the Yamato maid he had assigned to his husband when Yuuri had nothing but happy words for her during dinnertime… dinnertime he would probably not be able to make it to with the mountains of paperwork he had before him.

Really, all that was missing that day was him having a fight with his husband or something.

“Your Majesty?” his secretary popped his head at his door “Pardon me but you were not answering the bell”

“Ah, sorry… what is it?” he pinched the bridge of his nose

“His Majesty the Czarina is here and would… like a word with you” his words were slowly paced as if he was surprised from his own words

Honestly, Viktor couldn’t blame him. he felt the words stuck in his throat and only managed a nod.

That was it. His husband was surely storming in demanding to return back to Yamato. His marriage and his day were doomed for sure. He could even feel his hair line recede more and more every second…

“Your Majesty!” a cheerful voice called him back to Earth

Wait… was that Yuuri’s voice?

His usual Yuuri would remain mostly silent through basically all of their interactions unless he was asked his thoughts about a specific matter, he hadn’t seen his face but from the distance and he always had the same serene and thoughtful expression. Not that he was cold but, rather distant instead.

The man before him was all smiles apparently, basically hopping into his office with glee, his eyes shiny with happiness with his maid sticking to his heels. He had never, never, seen him so, well, _happy_.

“Your Majesty! Look! I received a letter!” his husband chirped, _chirped_, while taking a seat before him and wiggling a piece of paper at his face “It’s from one of my dearest friends, the First Flower Prince of Siam! He couldn’t come to our wedding, but he expressed he would like to pay me a visit after the New Year is celebrated in Bangkok”

In the boggle that was his mind in that precise second, he managed to remember that Lady Baranovskaya had commented on the close relationship the two Omega princes had, basically growing up together between the Hasetsu and Chitralada palaces. The Yamato people thought so wonderfully of the Siamese prince, popular opinion considered him a part of the imperial family and most Siamese were sure that if their Queen had birthed an Alpha prince sooner, they would have surely concreted an engagement just to officially make Yuuri part of their family.

“Is there any way we can issue and invitation? His ambassadors will take forever to issue a good diplomatic reason to visit” his husband fixed his deep gaze on him, something he had definitely never done before. Had he always had such beautiful eyes? “Would it be too troublesome if we invited him here? Not out of protocol but… just because?”

Good Lord in Heaven. Was there a way he would deny him something when he was looking at him like that?

“Uh-of course” his voice sounded so croaky, even to him “I will see you that”

Yuuri smiled, smiled widely at him. So brightly and endearingly that he could feel all of his being melt, his mind not processing anything around him but the thought he wanted to do absolutely anything his power both as a human and as a Czar to preserve that beautiful smile on his husband’s face.

“Thank you so much, Your Majesty!” Yuuri made a bow, still smiling widely before making to the office’s door. His maid bowed deeply before following the steps of her master.

Viktor allowed himself to drop on his chair, halfway relieved and halfway exhausted.

Hah. Suddenly, the mountain of documents didn’t look so large anymore. Maybe he could finish in time and make it to dinner with his husband. He could issue that invitation for Yuuri’s friend himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Just some clarification: for effects of this A/B/O universe, the Siamese kingdom concedes the titles for their titles based on their second gender+order of birth with a poetic touch of mine: Phichit is an Omega and the first born thus he becomes the First Flower Prince of Siam, his first younger sister becomes the Second Flower Princess of Siam and so on; his younger alpha brother is the Crown First Sun Prince since he is the first in line for the throne. Hope it isn't too confusing :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> W A R N I N G: Gaslighting, rape (mentioned), panic attack. Please skip the third part of this chapter (signaled by an ----) if you are sensitive to these subjects and I will make you a small summary on the following chapter.

Takeshi Nishigori considered himself blessed by the gods. How else would one feel when he, a mere cook who had served under a small, almost unknown Northern lord not only had been brought along the Imperial Family but had been asked to stay at the Peterhof palace by none other than the palace’s housekeeper and got his wife to serve the Second Prince! All because they were the only Yamato from the imperial entourage staff who spoke Rodinian.

Still, the work was tiring. No one else in the kitchen knew a thing of Yamato cuisine except for not burning rice or boiling tea so he had not only to give them the recipe explicitly defined point by point, but he also had to be right behind his staff’s back to see if they were doing things properly. Of course, he was not the only one doing so: his three daughters patrolled the kitchen and did not limit their help to mere words.

When he came back to the rooms he shared with his family, he was the first to collapse on the bed while his wife tucked in their triplets as she spoke happily of her time accompanying the Czarina.

But that day, she came in their rooms with a dazed expression. She ate in silence, tucked in the kids in silence and was looking at the wall in thoughtful silence.

“Yuuko-san?” he wondered once they were sitting on the bed before getting to sleep “Are you alright? Did something happen?”

“Mm?” her eyes lingered on the wall a little more before blinking as if she had just woke up “Ah, sorry, Takeshi-san! Did you say something?”

The man sighed lightly. Work at the Peterhof palace was much more comfortable for both of them than what they had had at Hokkaido since the Second Prince favored their services so much either by sending his gratitude to the kitchens because he had enjoyed the fried lotus sprouts or by appointing his wife to play koi-koi with him in work hours, but work was work still. Bad days were not unheard of.

Perhaps the Second Prince had given her a hard time?

“Did something happen?” he repeated, holding his wife’s hand

Yuuko-san’s expression was… complicated. As if she had seen something so shocking and confusing, she just could not manage to settle her thoughts.

“Um-well… how do I say this? He- he was _happy_. Very happy”

Takeshi supposed his expression must have been very similar to his wife’s.

His wife had taken a privacy oath when she entered the service of the Second Prince which was to keep whatever she saw in the tomb of her mind and her words sealed shut in her mouth, understandable when working for an imperial consort.

But still, Yuuko-san and he had known each other since they were children, way before their parents arranged their marriage. There were few traits, if any, they did not know about each other and could read the words neither of them spoke. Despite his wife revealing little details of the Second Prince’s behavior, it was not hard to tell by his habits that he was not close at all to his husband the Czar nor that he actually enjoyed living in Rodinia at all. He was loved and respected in Yamato and it was known how much he loved his country, his usually gentle features suddenly soured in the photos the newspapers began spreading through the Empire on his moving to the largest nation of Europa. His wife mentioned how despite having beautiful kimonos on display and guarded in his chests, he apparently only wore Western clothes except to bed; how his beautiful wedding gifts were still kept in a different room, untouched except for the lacquered hanafuda game; how ironic it was for her to dress him for dinner when he was not going to be seen.

Happy. That ought to be strange indeed.

“And… why? If you can say, that is” he finally spoke

“He got a letter. From the Flower Prince” she mumbled lightly “Before they called you here, I actually thought they would marry His Majesty to the young Sun Prince or to the Silla Prince at least”

Everyone in Yamato did.

Despite the relief from the war, not many regarded that marriage arrangement as something entirely favorable as the time went on, especially the people in the Northern Isles. How could it be that their beloved Second Prince was to marry the man who was the grandson of who not long ago led the war efforts against them? It was not even a necessary measure!

“The Flower Prince did not come to the wedding and now wants to visit” his wife continued, eyes still blankly fixed on the wall “He even went to the Czar’s office. He was like a child, _anata_”

Thinking a little bit, wasn’t the Second Prince younger than both of them? And to think he would have been married into Rodinia younger had it not been for Czar Nikolas’ passing. In Takeshi’s opinion, that diplomatic sacrifice only added more to his respect for the Second Prince.

“The Czar was happy too” Yuuko-san mumbled, lying over the bed and migrating her gaze from the wall to the ceiling “I don’t see him very often, but he seemed pleased with how happy his husband was”

To those words, Takeshi could only smile fondly at her. Sitting on the bed, he made use of how his wife softly rolled towards him due to his weight and caressed her cheek. He could understand the Czar’s sentiment.

Yuuko-san had always been the one with the brains and a good common sense, always calling him off every time he and the other children were about to pull on a prank on the townspeople. His infant self was not worried for those attention calls but when the time of his parents to arrange an engagement came around, he began to crave a different kind of attention from her, one that apparently she wouldn’t give him. It wasn’t until they were married that she noticed his affections.

“Anata?” she questioned, leaning into his touch. He wished his hands wouldn’t be so callous against her soft skin.

Takeshi chuckled before leaning to kiss Yuuko-san, making the bed creak slightly. Who would have thought he would have something in common with a Czar?

* * *

Yuuri was happily wiggling his legs over the border of his chair, a strange behavior for him whenever the sun was not shining in the sky. Still, his expectancy was so grand his spirits soared high despite the storm outside making evident efforts to drown them.

“Your Majesty, let me be curious for a moment” Countess Babicheva’s voice brought him back to the large sitting room they were leisurely playing “and do tell me what brings you so much joy on such a gray day?”

Yuuri made a move on their chess board, his smile broadening a little. Knowing he would not be in the outdoors that day and with Countess Babicheva as his sole company for the day, he felt bold in the morning and asked Yuuko to substitute the uncomfortably tight western pants for a comfortable hakama and his geta to walk around the palace.

“My dearest childhood friend will be visiting me in a few weeks!” he replied happily “We have not seen each other since before I left for Rodinia and he could not come for the wedding so I hope you understand my excitement”

The Countess chuckled lightly at that.

“Ah, I certainly do! For I feel a similar joy whenever my Sara tells me she will visit me for the summer!” the redhead lady made her move on the board. She smirked mischievously from behind her lace fan and spoke to the Czarina “With a little luck, she won’t just be visiting this year”

Yuuri blushed at those words. He was genuinely curious if he would be allowed to go to the wedding. Would it be in Sicilia or in Rodinia? When would it be? Summer or winter?”

The droplets hitting against the crystal window almost veiled the sound of someone knocking at the door. Yuuri allowed whoever was outside to enter, revealing a chambermaid with the Czar and a woman behind her back.

“His Majesty the Czar and Lady Limenko” the maid announced making both the Countess and Yuuri stood up and bowed lightly

“Pardon our intrusion” the Czar bowed back “but it appears Anya was looking for her boardgame partner, Mila”

The countess’ mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ to those words, as if she realized she had forgotten something before transforming into somewhat of an awkward smile to the other woman.

“Please forgive me Anya, it’s just that Georgi practically threatened me not to pull you out of bed” she excused herself, offering her own chair for Lady Limenko

“Your Majesty the Czarina” the dark-haired lady bowed to Yuuri before accepting the Countess’s offer “Psh, you know how he is. On the other hand I beg you to pardon me, Viktor, for I practically interrupted your visit”

The Czar denied softly to that before making towards Yuuri.

Oh.

The previous day he had been too excited for his own good, so much he practically stormed into the Czar’s office without invitation and practically demanded him to issue an invitation for Phichit. He felt so relieved when Yuuko communicated him the Czar was busy and would probably not be able to dine with him. What kind of face could he present with such behavior? His parents and governess had raised him better than that…!

“Here, my Czarina” Viktor’s voice made him realize he was lending him a folded sheet of paper “I have the official one ready to be sent as soon as you tell me if it is proper enough”

Yuuri unfolded the paper and read in silence.

_His Imperial Majesty, Viktor Alexandrovich Nikiforov, Great Count of Petrograd and Czar of all Rodinia, head of the People of Síbirsk and the Greater Sakha and His Imperial Majesty, Yuuri of Imperial House of Katsuki, Second Prince of the Empire of Yamato and Czarina of all Rodinia._

_Greetings._

_On issue of the recent marital union between the Czar of Rodinia and the Czarina Yuuri, Second Prince of Yamato, Rodinia would like to extend our hospitality to the First Flower Prince of Siam to a visit to the Peterhof Palace with motif of friendship and union between our two countries following the celebrations of the New Year._

_The Czar and the Czarina will be waiting for your response._

_May the Lord in the Heavens bless the Kingdom of Siam and the wise rule of His Majesty the King, Chalermchai the Honorable, and the Royal House of Chulanont._

He chuckled lightly, covering his mouth with his sleeve out of habit despite his shirt not covering anything at all.

“Apologies” he mumbled “I had not seen such formal speech towards Phichit in a very long time. But I believe this is more than appropriate, thank you very much Your Majesty”

He made a bow in gratitude, not daring to look up. He definitely had been too bold the previous day, his head was beginning to hurt.

“Oh no, please!” the Czar’s hand was about to touch him in a sign to rise but the Alpha stopped before he even touched the fabric of his clothes “I-I had actually thought that if you have prepared a more personal letter for the First Flower Prince, they can be sent together”

Oh! He actually had! He had thought of sending it along the package of letters he had written for his family but this was a perfect opportunity. With a head sign, Yuuko exited the room to fetch the letter he had left in his bedroom’s desk.

“Thank you very much once again, Your Majesty” he bowed again, stopping when he heard Lady Limenko laughed lightly.

“Oh my” the raven-haired woman covered her mouth almost immediately “Pardon me, it is just so endearing for me to watch a newlywed couple, Your Majesties. Brings back memories…”

A specific gesture didn’t escape Yuuri’s sight despite the embarrassment those words caused on him: one of the Lady’s hands sliding slowly towards her lower abdomen and merely resting there with tenderness in her fingertips and her smile.

He had seen that expression once before. With Minako-sensei’s wife before their passing. He was young back then and when he finally had age to fully comprehend what had happened but he did remember how surprised he was with the fact his own mother had been able to healthily deliver two children with a war waging right outside their windows.

“Is your ladyship with…” he slowly began to wonder, afraid he was perhaps being rude or had mistook the woman’s signals

However, he was met with a radiant smile and a pink blush followed by an eager nod.

“I am with child. Doctor Botkin told us right this morning” despite her happy words, she sighed with tiredness “But he also forbade me from going out too much due to my morning sickness. Not that such a thing is an issue with this hellish weather”

“Congratulations!” Yuuri finally managed to blurt “My congratulations to you and your husband, Lady Limenko!”

As soon as he was back in his bedroom, he would begin preparing a beautiful trousseau along Yuuko, Yuuri decided.

The Lady was laughing again, evidently trying to stand up from her seat until she was gently forced back again into the chair by Countess Babicheva.

“I thank Your Majesty’s attention” she bowed softly with her head “Maybe if Mila and Sara’s wedding comes by sooner, our little one will have someone to play with?”

Yuuri blushed and diverted his sight from the pair of women. He was genuinely happy for the Lady as he had heard from Mila she and her husband had lived quite the romantic love story from a young age but he was also scared.

He was married into Rodinia not to merely be a pretty face by the side of the Czar. Amongst his duties were to bear an heir to the Rodinian throne and not only had his wedding night been an absolute disgrace but he had been coward enough not to try again to conceive a child. Underneath the loose fabric of his hakama, he felt his knees tremble softly.

“Your Majesty,” Yuuko interrupted by delivering a small letter he had written and presenting it to the Czar “his Majesty’s letter for the First Flower Prince”

The Czar took the letter and bowed to Yuuri and the ladies with a wide smile.

“If you all excuse me, I better reach the messenger before he crosses Síbirsk” with that, he left the room.

A buzz was left in Yuuri’s ears instead. Neither Vasilisa nor Doctor Botkin had paid a visit to him ever since Yuuko was passing them daily reviews on his condition, his mood and the now small wound on the back of his neck. But their office was not that far.

“I beg you to apologize me, Countess Babicheva, Lady Limenko, but I need to leave for a moment” he mumbled, earning a bow from both women besides from a curious gaze he did not register at all.

Once they were slightly away from the room and with no guards in the hallway, he turned to his maid and mumbled low.

“Call doctor Botkin to my room. I…” his words paused in his throat when he saw a flash of silver hair happily hopping on his way to the offices “I will arrive in just a moment”

* * *

Viktor sported a pleased smile while he walked towards his office.

At any other time, he would be dragging his feet back to his desk with a face signaling he just wanted to return to bed in lieu of reading through towers of paperwork or hearing the old ministers blabber about matters they did not really know about.

But since the previous afternoon, his work was just a mere little pebble in his shoe on his way to dine with his husband.

He had not only gleefully stormed into his office with no fear whatsoever from meeting his gaze. Nor did he seem to have anything but a little embarrassment from his impromptu appearance when he interrupted the chess match between his husband and his cousin. Would he be allowed to dine face to face with him?

A man was allowed to dream.

“Nimorova, have this sent to Siam along with my letter” he happily told one of his assistants in the small living room preceding his actual office “Please hurry before the messenger leaves…”

“Miss Nimorova is not the only one who needs to hurry”

Lady Baranovskaya and her invisible feet was standing right behind him, face grave as if she had witnessed something compromising for the Crown. The assistant bowed to both nobles and hurried herself with the two letters at hand.

“I assure you I’m doing my best with those papers Lilia, but you cannot expect me to surpass the limits of a human….”

“Not that” the Lady interrupted again “Have you not heard? Georgi and Lady Limenko are expecting their first child”

She spoke with such a grave tone in her voice that one would have thought she was communicating a war with one of Rodinia’s neighboring countries instead of the merry news of his cousin soon becoming a father.

“How could I not hear? Georgi practically made me spit my tea this morning when he told me so” he chuckled lightly at the memory of his cousin so excited about the news he had almost broke an entire set of cutlery “My husband already heard as well. I want to talk to him about making them a join trousseau gift during dinner…”

“It is other things you should worry with your husband instead of useless romanticism, Your Majesty!”

The air felt heavy in the room. Viktor felt the butterflies in his stomach he had been feeling for nearly an entire day suddenly wither and turn into a void which left a sour taste in his mouth and an incoming headache from a flood of dark memories within his mind.

“What do you mean, Lady Baranovskaya?” Viktor even felt his breathing grow heavier.

“How will you explain the fact the Czarina is not pregnant yet when a mere lord and his wife already are waiting for a child?” she questioned.

“They have been married for years, Lilia” his tone grew deeper and even he could hear it “And we both know how hard it was for them to conceive”

“You and that Yamato need to stop playing around. His condition is much better and all you need to do is to ask Botkin for the day of his heat and wait for a few days” she huffed in disgust “It is not that difficult and yet neither of you two seem capable of fulfilling your duties”

“And do you expect me to what?! Force him to conceive just so we win some sort of competition against Georgi and Anya?”

"It will be a necessary evil, your Highness" Lilia responded with a stoic face

"A necessary e…?!" Viktor just couldn't believe her words. Lilia nodded

"I thought you would be better prepared for royal life, your Highness. It is your duty to marry and his duty to give a child to Rodinia" even Lilia's voice tone was stiff and seemed righteous "This is how things have been done for centuries"

Her words seemed to have been recited letter by letter from an academic book. Viktor felt the veins on his forehead about to explode in anger. He couldn't bear this anymore.

"I raped my husband! That's something I cannot forgive myself for and I'm sure Yuuri hasn't forgiven me either! You say that's how things have been done all this time: does that mean they are any less wrong?! I have no intention of laying a finger on my husband if he doesn't want me to" Viktor hit the wall behind him "I won't make him go over it again and my child won't be born from violence, that I can promise!"

The palace's housekeeper was evidently losing it, her face paled in anger.

"Then what, do you expect to leave your kingdom without an heir? Your dynasty to disappear in time?"

"If that means securing my husband's wellbeing, then yes" Viktor saw the terror in Lilia's eyes before his words "If needed to, I will appoint an heir within my cousins. I don't want to have this discussion again, and that is an order, Lady Baranovskaya”

A ‘thud’ alerted both Viktor and the housekeeper, making their heads turn to the entrance of the small room. ‘Screw it’ Viktor thought while walking towards the source of the noise. If they had been heard, then so be it as long as his husband was alright and healthy… and then his gaze stopped on the figure of his husband.

Yuuri was sat on the ground and leaning against the wall with a shocked expression on his pale face, his shoulders shuddering slightly and breathing rapidly as if he had just been running. An almost unnoticeable scent was distinguished by Viktor’s nose in which he smelled the scent of fear.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty…!” he lifted his gaze to find his husband’s maid, apparently searching for him but quickly stopping when she realized the situation “Your Majesty! Ah- the nurse and doctor are in his room!”

“Give me your jacket” he quickly demanded, thank God she didn’t question anything and just complied.

Convinced the scent of the beta maid would be received much better by his husband, he quickly covered him with the clothes, placing it close to his nose so he would not perceive his own minty scent as much before he grabbed his shoulders and the back of his knees and lifted him up the ground.

“To his room. Quick” he commanded the maid

He could feel Yuuri had begun to cry almost silently in his embrace, so he hurried his steps down the hall, closely followed by the Yamato maid.


	9. Chapter 9

“Your Majesty? Your Majesty! Ah! You are awake, thank the Gods!”

Yuuri had not even fully opened his eyes when Yuuko’s voice struck his ears. He could not even begin to tell why but the instant she did, his head felt dizzy. Too dizzy.

Making signs with his hands, he hurried Yuuko to get him a sink to empty his stomach in. Knowing she was a mother, it didn’t strange him that the gentle woman rubbed his back gently while his body contracted. There was a sour medicinal taste in his mouth prompting his disgust.

When his body had had enough and finally allowed him to rise his head and gaze, he was met with the vision of a painted-silk screen and somebody’s pants and shoes still visible from its gap to the floor.

“Yuuri?” ah! The Czar’s voice! “Are you alright?”

“Your Majesty, please inhale this. It will ease the dizziness”

Doctor Botkin’s wrinkly hands approached his nose with a white fluffball of cotton and the striking smell of alcohol hit his nose, making the remaining nausea drop back into his abdomen. Yuuri’s eyes were teary after the effort his body had made and without his eyeglasses his vision was blurry so he almost spilled the cup of water Vasilisa offered him all over the bed.

“Do not fret, your Majesties, this is merely a reaction to the sedative” the doctor assured while applying a cold compress on Yuuri’s forehead, fully returning him to the present moment “All you need right now is a good bowl of soup. Tell the kitchen that, please”

Yuuri doubted soup would get the tightness off his chest or ease the heavy atmosphere around. His bedroom felt too tight.

“I want to talk to his Majesty. Alone”

Yuuko’s steps stopped abruptly on her way to the door and beneath the thick glass of his eyewear, the doctor’s eyes widened with surprise and an unspoken question shone in them when he voiced those words. Even the unexpressive and usually stoic Vasilisa parted her lips and raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Yuuri nodded to them all, not sure if the gesture was to ease their worries or his own.

“_I-I will tell Takeshi san to cook you some okayu or nabe… I will tell him to cook both_” Yuuko mumbled in Yamato while exiting the room

“Yes” the Doctor nodded to Yuuko’s words despite the language barrier “Vasilisa, why don’t you come help me prepare some more compresses? These are warm already, come, come”

The Czarina’s bedroom was suddenly left silent and empty with the exception of Yuuri on his bed and the Czar behind the painted screen. Yuuri could hear his own heavy breathing and a strange sound, as if someone was wrinkling a piece of fabric out of nervousness

“What you said to Lady Baranovskaya,” his voice sounded hoarse and his throat burned slightly but he continued “was it true?”

“Every single word” a secure voice replied to him from the other side of the screen, prompting Yuuri to ask what for him was the real question.

“Why?”

The memory of a large stable smelling of hay in the middle of a cold winter was still fresh and present in his mind.

This person he had been married to was someone who despised him from an early age, who considered him nothing more than the child of his former war enemies, who was only useful to bear children to take a throne and who considered Yuuri only a pretty face to be at his side to wave at multitudes. He was to be as a mere painted _vase_ in Peterhof.

Then why would the Czar say such words?

“You will think me stupid, but I fell in love with you….no, I fell in love with the idea of you”

Yuuri did not know how to interpret that phrase so he remained in silence, something that prompted the Czar to continue.

“When we met, I thought you the ideal shy and fragile Omega, someone I thought would make a fine companion for me and I loved that idea of you. I know I was wrong, and I apologize I did not realize it was all in my mind until I-I bit you. I do not deserve your forgiveness but, as I said on my letter and what you heard in my office, I will do everything that is in my hands to make your life here a comfortable one. Nobody will force you to anything, especially not to a violent pregnancy. It is the least I can do for you after all these years”

Uh?

If he recalled clearly, he had been hidden on the day he felt this arranged marriage was a doom rather than a blessing. And the Czar and him had only been married for about a month.

“What do you mean?”

“When I brought you here from the office, you were kind of asleep but you mumbled a lot of things. Including that you are but a vase”

Yuuri’s lungs emptied the air within them in a gasp.

His mind began dwelling again, reverberating those words in the walls of his conscience, a void in his stomach and Yuuri could already feel another panic episode beginning to cook up until the noise of the screen being taken away made him snap out of it and back to the present.

The Czar had removed the screen separating them but instead of meeting his eyes with Yuuri’s, he kneeled, forehead touching the bedroom.

“Those words… I recognize them. I now understand that is how you have seen yourself ever since that day and I am sure this entire life will never be enough to redeem the horrible things I have done to you” his voice sounded so…sad “In the present condition I think I will never get to know you- the true you- but I beg you for the opportunity to become companions. Friends even, if we are so lucky”

Something within Yuuri knew the man before him was telling him nothing but the truth. Perhaps it was the bite binding them together on the base of his neck, which for the first time ever since placed there, had ceased to even been felt. Yet as most of his life, his mind just could not leave him just live his life in peace and made his lips move before he could stop them.

“Then, you don’t hate me?”

The Czar lifted his head, eyes wide in a mixture of shock and panic. Unlike other times, Yuuri did not feel the need to take his own gaze away.

“I could never bring myself to hate you, Yuuri!” he assured “And I am not doing this out of pity either! The little snippets I have seen of you are magnificent and have made me terribly curious of you. I want to know you but if you do not wish the same, I will respect that decision”

Yuuri’s eyes began going blurry with tears once again, but unlike the ones he had cried out of pain just a moment ago, these were tears of relief out of the feel he had gotten a weight of his body and soul. Just when his shoulders began moving in soft spasms, a soft fabric caressed his right hand.

He accepted the handkerchief-as well as an implicit agreement.

* * *

“Then, all of this is your fault”

“I could not have worded it better”

In his chair, Christophe drooped himself, one hand pressing the bridge of his nose as if that could stop the imminent and incoming migraine while his other hand made a conscious effort not to fist the wine cup in his grip so tightly it would break. That fist could find a better place, he thought, on Viktor’s jaw.

“If you wish so, you can beat me. It is the least I deserve really”

“That is a privilege only Yuuri should have” the Swiss man concluded “Has he done so yet?”

The Czar denied with a sad smile on his lips.

“Mila has”

Much against his own etiquette and out of the anger he felt, Christophe emptied the wine of his cup in one quick sip and stood up from his chair. He was not very fond of the strongness of vodka, but maybe his friend would have something else in that little liquor cabinet of his? Whisky would be a fine option.

“On more important matters than you, how is he?” if he sounded cruel he did not care. He was a best friend but one needed to have principles.

He was expecting to hear Viktor sigh, but the man remained thoughtful in his own chair.

“I don’t want to say he is fine but he is…different” to those words, the swiss man made a hand gesture, prompting the monarch to continue “Before that day, he did walked around the palace but it was a strange routine, as if he was trying to pass unnoticed. He would walk around the gardens but always at the margins, he would only speak to like one person at a time, he did not like to leave his room. Now he goes on walks more often, he talks a little more to more people and I sometimes stumble into him when he walks around the palace. He’s like a child exploring a new place”

Christophe chuckled. While Viktor and himself were already approaching their thirties, the Yamato prince had passed his teen age only a few years ago. He was still a child, one that perhaps had been prompted into maturing too soon like all the other royals he knew.

Maybe the small folk longed to be a part of that world where everything seemed so golden, regal and perfect but anybody who had lived close enough to find the cracks in those illusions could tell otherwise.

When a royal was born, they would spend a good while away from their parents and instead be put under the care of milkmaids and nannies, their education would be strict and their etiquette lessons stricter, not even reaching a decade of life they would be expected to form good relations with relatives they did not know the existence of who could might as well be plotting against them, barely scraping their twenties they would either be sent to married away if they were an Omega or be expected to welcome in their lives a complete stranger in the case of an Alpha. And then? Children, children, children! For the Crown apparently could not work if there were not at least five spare heirs to the throne.

Royals were a mess and the best example of it was the Czar in front of him.

“How about his relations with other members of the family?” the whisky burned his throat slightly but definitely nothing tasted as bitter as disappointment so it was fine “You said he speaks to a lot of people lately”

“Oh, yes. Yura likes riding that damned horse of his with him, Yakov is forever grateful to him because he is the only one who can convince Yura to study, Mila adores him, and he adores her back… I suppose he sees his older sister in him” his friend was starting to let a small smile slide “I asked a Yamato maid to serve him and I have been told they get along so well they even play boardgames in his room”

Well, that was an improvement, certainly. Now, the actual question.

“How about things between you two?”

Now, the Czar did sigh.

“I cannot say we are good… but we are definitely doing better. We don’t hide anymore at dinner and he sometimes calls me over to have lunch with him”

“Looks to me that you have flipped the entire proper process” ugh. The whisky burned his throat but he didn’t have much time to think over it when he realized his friend sported such a complicated expression “You are supposed to meet the person you like, court them, marry them and then have children. You married him and now you’re getting to know him”

Viktor drank to his words.

* * *

“Why do they all look like losers?”

“Yura” his cousin and grandfather warned

“Prince Yuri!” his tutor scandalized

Yuri was sleepy, tired and in a bad mood after being pulled out of bed early on a Saturday just to be thrown to a room of the library and presented with a catalogue of sorts like the ones he had seen Lilia flipping on her little spare time whenever she considered the Palace was in need of new décor. Only instead of fancy chairs and tables from Paris, those pages were filled with photographs of foreign princes, dukes and who knows what else who were looking at him with arrogance.

As if they considered themselves already to be their husband. And he absolutely _hated_ it.

All of them had their pompous buttocks cocooned in clothes which probably made them look like their grandparents, their hairs plastered flat to their skulls and Heaven forbid they were male Alphas because they would make their best to make their facial hair look like a squirrel had left its tail over their faces.

“It’s true” Yuri defended himself while flipping the pages with a bored expression “Looks like Lilia only put attention to these _extensive_ lists of properties and titles”

“Which is why you are here choosing” Viktor sighed “How about you forget about those lists? And of the marriage part? Would you like to meet any of them?”

In any other situation, he would have looked at his dedushka with puppy eyes to let him go back to bed but in this case, he actually understood where they were coming from.

Viktor had been the first person of the Rodinian imperial family to be betrothed at an early age since sixteenth century and looking at how unhappy his cousin-in-law evidently was in his marriage, perhaps there had been a good reason why they stopped doing those infancy engagements.

The Crown was evidently trying not to repeat their mistakes and were even taking the length of giving Yuri a trial period of sorts with whoever he chose.

Still, he denied with his head, making the three men in the room sigh and remove the catalogue… only for Yakov to pull another one.

While he was flipping the pages with his lips pursed, a series of steps got the attention of the three men. Who on God’s grand earth entered a library on Saturday morning _voluntarily_?

“Ah, Your Majesty” well of course it had to be the Czarina, followed by his Yamato maid. His tutor, grandpa and himself stood up to bow at him “Pardon me, I did not know the room was occupied…”

If Yuri was correct, his cousin-in-law had been walking around the castle a little more in the last few weeks and it seemed he had come to research something rather than leisurely reading if one was to judge on the amount of books his maid and him were holding in their hands.

“Don’t mind us” Yuri replied with a bored expression “We will be leaving soon so you can read”

“So none?” his grandfather wondered, to which he denied

The Czarina tilted his head in confusion. Red as a freshly prepared borscht, his cousin proceeded to explain his husband what they were doing and what those thick books were for, making the Czarina red as well.

“Oh… then how about a friend?” the Czarina suggested. His face must have been the purest definition of confusion because he explained further “Yes. My mother told me once she was very happy she had married a friend who turned to be loving. I-I cannot guarantee that it is for everyone, but His Ma-Viktor is giving you a good opportunity to meet beforehand and I think that would be really good”

Hm. A friend.

Yuri had few friends really, and all of them were related to him by blood. Growing up in the family palace of Moskva with his grandpa and then surrounded only by royals at Peterhof had given him few if any opportunities to relate to other people around his age.

What would he like in a friend then? In his first friend?

“Someone around my age”

“Alright, that is a very good start” Yuuri prompted, smiling at him and signaling his maid to leave the books alone for they would stay around for a while

“It would be nice if they liked horses and cats”

“Fair enough…ah! Thank you” his cousin had offered his seat so his husband would not tire himself standing by the door “How about music? Or books?”

“I love the adventures of Marco Polo!” Yuri felt his grin widen in excitement “And the Treasure Island!”

Yuuri smiled and nodded at his words while flipping the pages, Viktor was doing the same with another of the thick catalogue-like volumes.

“Someone who is not looking arrogant either”

The Czarina’s eyes met with his own. Even years later, Yuri would recall such a moment as having a sort of wordless connection and understanding on a matter that nobody who was not an Omega could ever understand. He wanted someone who was not looking at him like a piece of meat.

Yuuri presented him one of the catalogues widely open in one page with a photograph of a young man only slightly older than him.

It was surprising how Yuri had not noticed him when he was distinguishable as a sore thumb: dressed in an embroidered coat, the photograph had been taken in a an open field with the man accompanying himself with a horse and an eagle on his arm. Judging by his ruffled hair and the _borik_ he was holding in one hand, it seemed he had been photographed right after a session of hunting and he had forgotten he had to have his picture taken.

However, it was none of those things that called Yuri’s attention the most. It was his gaze.

There were no distinct emotion, neither arrogance nor hunger. It was merely the sight of somebody taking a picture, someone who looked and looked at him like a normal person would do.

The Tarkan Otabek of the Altin Khanate in Almaty, Yuri read on the text by the side.

“Why not invite him over?” Yuuri suggested

“Yes yes!” his cousin added perhaps a little too-excitedly “We could invite him to our vacation period at the dacha for the summer. What do you say, Yura?”

“Wait. I have a question. All of the others were like minor dukes, counts and an earl from Britania but he is a _Tarkhan_” an heir. It did not make any damn sense “Wouldn’t this entire dynamic be the other way?”

For example, as soon as Viktor hit the age Yuri had, the proposals pretty much rained from every freaking direction and from apparently every damned person in two continents: Rodinian nobles, princes and princesses from China, daughters and sons from the nearby Khans, lords and ladies from every corner of the Britanian empire, members of the Gaul bourgeoise and who knows who else. And all that despite everybody knew he had a fiancé from infancy.

It was the logical thing, really. Viktor was an heir after all. But Yuri was not.

Heck, he was not even on the main branch of the royal family. He was the cousin of the Czar, a duke who would most likely remain far away from the throne his entire life.

Then why in hell was an heir amongst his proposals?

The Czarina’s eyes widened behind his glasses before directing his gaze towards Viktor who glanced at his dedushka who glanced at Yakov, who finally coughed slightly.

“Ahem. It seems the Khaz Tarkhan is a little … _aloof_ on these matters so Khatum Guljanat has been sending this to every khanate and noble family who has a marriage-eligible member”.

Yuri let out a snort and began laughing at those words. A genuine laugh for the first time in the entire morning.

“We should definitely invite him!” he decided amongst spasms of laughter.


End file.
